Free Falling
by inkheart9459
Summary: Sequel to It's Not the Fall That Kills You. Three years after that fateful day in the hospital Emma Swan doesn't think she could have it any better. She finally has the family she's wanted her entire life and things are going smoothly. She's head over heels in love with Regina. Henry is a good kid. There isn't anything she could do to make it better. Until she realizes there is.
1. Chapter 1

Hey Guys! So as it says up there ^ this is the sequel to It's Not the Fall That Kills You, so if you haven't read that you might want to go do that. Other than that, welcome back those of you who read the first. I really hope you guys like this one. Just a head's up we've skipped ahead time wise three years from the last story. Oh, and this basically starts right off the bat with smut later in the chapter. Skip the last line break if you'd like to avoid it. With that, enjoy the Emma high jinx.

* * *

Emma moaned and rolled over as she felt warmth leave her arms. She cracked her eyes open slightly and saw Regina moving about the room quietly. Her eyes slipped closed again after a second, still burning and tired and definitely not ready to be open yet.

"Regina," she whined. "It's too early in the morning and it's _Saturday_. Come back to bed." She patted the bed beside her.

"Some of us have things to do, Emma." Emma could hear the smile in Regina's voice.

"Like what? Like I said, it's Saturday, the universal day of sleeping in."

"Well, for one I have to make our son breakfast."

"He's thirteen, Regina. He won't be up before noon. I'll bet a week's worth of laundry _and_ I'll even pick up your dry cleaning."

She heard the bedroom door open. "Henry?" Regina called into the hallway.

"Yeah, Mom?" Henry's voice was faint, but still there and very much awake.

Emma groaned. "Seriously? It's like eight in the morning. That kid is not right."

"Nothing, Honey," Regina called back to Henry. "Just proving a point to your mother. I'll start fixing breakfast in a moment."

"Cool," Henry faintly replied.

"He didn't inherit the early bird tendencies from me. No one in their right mind gets up before noon unless they have to."

"Shame you won't be up before noon, darling. I promised Henry I'd make pancakes. Chocolate chip pancakes."

Emma's eyes snapped open. She sat up and looked at her girlfriend with wide eyes. "Did you say chocolate chip pancakes?"

Regina smiled, tying her robe around her waist. "I did. I thought I might even pull out the whip cream too."

Emma's eyes widened and saliva pooled in her mouth. "Well, when you put it that way." Emma quickly got out of bed and pulled on her own robe.

Regina laughed and started to walk from the room.

"Regina?" Emma said, stopping the other woman in her tracks.

"Yes, dear?"

"Henry has plans with Ava and Nicholas today, doesn't he?"

"Yes, right after breakfast, why?"

"I can think of a better use for the whip cream than pancakes." Emma smirked and waggled her eyebrows.

Regina snorted. "Really, Miss Swan, you are insatiable."

"And we both know you love it. And you really can't say anything about insatiable. The other night we went seven rounds Regina. Seven. Because someone couldn't get enough, now could they?"

A slight blush graced Regina's cheeks. "I didn't hear you complaining."

"And you never will. Just proving a point, my queen." Emma mock bowed. "Now I believe I was promised pancakes."

Regina laughed. "I suppose you were. Come on then, let us go satisfy your craving." Regina cocked an eyebrow before turning and sashaying from the room.

Emma followed watching Regina's hips sway hypnotically in front of her the whole way to the kitchen. Together they set to work gathering the ingredients for pancakes, never missing a beat, this morning dance one they had done a hundred times since Emma moved in the year before. In no time the family was sitting down to breakfast, smiling, talking, and laughing like they did almost every Saturday. Emma loved these days, where they were a normal happy family. She cherished them more than anything else.

She looked across the table into deep brown eyes. It was all because of Regina that she finally had a family. Her heart swelled and she couldn't find it in her to wipe the smile from her face through the rest of the meal.

* * *

Later, once Henry was off with his friends and the can of whip cream lay empty, Emma was curled up in Regina's arms, basking in the warmth of the woman she loved. Regina ran her fingers through Emma's hair lightly, tugging on the tangles that she encountered gently but effectively. Emma snuggled closer to the other woman and sighed contentedly.

They lay like that for a long while until Emma's stomach growled loudly. Regina snorted lightly in Emma's ear. Emma felt Regina place a light kiss on the top of her head.

"Well it seems like someone is hungry again."

Emma turned to face Regina. "Well, what can I say, your majesty, you provide a great work out."

"Or perhaps we should just attribute it to the fact that you're a bottomless pit when it comes to food."

"I am not!" Emma scowled.

"Darling, you eat more than our thirteen year old son." Regina smiled fondly at Emma. "When he gets older you two will eat me out of house and home, I'm sure of it."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Yeah, ok, whatever you say, Madam Mayor. As long as I get to eat your food you can tease me all you wish about my eating habits."

Regina stretched and moved to get out of the bed. "Well then, I'm glad you see things my way, Miss Swan."

Emma snorted but smiled at the brunette.

"I think it would be prudent for both of us to shower first before we went downstairs, though." Regina pushed herself off the bed and headed for the bathroom.

Emma hopped up and grabbed her arm, halting Regina's progress. "Not so fast. Why would we take a shower so early? It'd just be going to waste." Emma pulled Regina back into her arms and whispered in her ear, "Because I have plans to take you on the kitchen counter later. You look too god damn sexy in an apron not to bend you over and have my way with you. I already missed out on one opportunity today, I'm not missing anymore."

A quiet moan escaped Regina's throat before she shook her head and took a small step away from Emma. "Dear, we really must break you of the habit of having sex on the kitchen counters. It's unsanitary."

"So was having sex in the supply closet at Town Hall, but I didn't see you complaining. And that was your idea. Besides, it's not like you don't super Clorox wipe the counters after we're done anyway."

"The closet sex was only my idea because someone convinced me it was a good idea to wear vibrating panties to a budget meeting where _someone_ turned them on." Regina shot her a death glare, but it was nothing like the ones of days past. It was almost…loving.

"Oh, come on, you had to know that was coming, Regina, you know me."

Regina's mouth turned up at the corners. "That I do."

"And besides once we were in that closet you came so hard you passed out for a solid minute. You can't tell me that you didn't enjoy it."

"Oh no, I enjoyed that particularly mind blowing orgasm, I just didn't enjoy waking up the closet floor a minute later. God knows what at on that floor."

Emma laughed. "But you know exactly what's been on the kitchen counter so there won't be an issue."

"I said no, Sheriff. And that's final." Regina walked towards the bathroom once again.

Emma caught her again and started to kiss down her neck, biting lightly at the spot where Regina's shoulder met her neck. Regina moaned loudly as Emma's teeth sunk into her flesh. Regina leaned back into Emma, resting her head on Emma's shoulder. Emma gladly took Regina's weight and continued the assault.

Emma pulled back a minute later. "We both know you're putty in my hands whenever I start kissing your neck. I start kissing you downstairs and we both know we won't make it anywhere else _but_ the kitchen counter."

Regina growled lightly. "I do not find that to be fair, Sheriff."

Emma turned Regina around and guided Regina's hands to her lower back. Regina started to caress the skin there immediately. Emma had to suppress a moan to get out her next words.

"It's not as if you don't have your own ways to control me." As soon as she was done speaking she bit her lip and leaned down onto Regina's shoulder.

Regina hummed thoughtfully. "You do make a good case, Emma."

Emma smiled. She was back to Emma, she was out of the dog house. She had figured out long ago that Regina only used the title Sheriff when she was angry at Emma. Miss Swan depended, it could either be a term of endearment or a slight admonishment depending on the tone, but Sheriff was never good.

Regina pulled her hands away from Emma's lower back. Emma groaned at the loss of contact.

"And I also have the outfits left over from the Enchanted Forest if I really need to persuade you."

Emma's eyes widened slightly and a bolt of arousal shot straight to her core. _God_, Regina in those outfits should be a crime.

Regina looked thoughtful for a moment. "Perhaps I'll make you a deal, Miss Swan." Regina reached up and trailed her fingers down Emma's face lightly. "No premeditated kitchen counter sex in exchange for me wearing an outfit of your choosing instead."

"Does this deal only cover today, or is this on going? Because let me tell you pretty much every time we're in the kitchen I have some sort of fantasy. And I won't get punished if it's spur of the moment kitchen sex?"

"Consider it an ongoing deal. For every week you manage not to fuck me in our kitchen you get one outfit."

Emma bit her lip in thought. Kitchen sex or Evil Queen outfits? Well, she really could have both just not on the same week.

"Deal."

"Good," Regina purred.

"But for the love of god will you help me unlace your corset next time. Those things are a bitch to get off."

Regina smirked. "No, Miss Swan, I think you're just getting the hang of it. It'll be good practice." Regina walked over and donned her robe again. "But since you obviously have no intention of us staying clean if we take a shower I suppose I'll go fix us lunch. And yes before you ask Miss Swan if you make it through today without taking me in the kitchen later you can pick out an outfit. Consider it a taste of what's to come." Regina arched and eyebrow at her and swept out of the room regally.

Emma stared after her dumbly. God she loved when some of the Evil Queen came out to play. She slipped on her robe and followed after her girlfriend.

* * *

Regina set a grilled cheese and a cup of tomato soup in front of Emma and sat down across from the blond with her own salad. Emma smiled brightly at the other woman before digging in. Emma didn't know how it was possible, but even Regina's grilled cheeses tasted better than average and she didn't think the brunette did anything out of the ordinary while preparing them. Magic, it probably came back to magic somehow. She shrugged and munched on.

"Do you know what Henry was planning on doing with Ava and Nicholas today?" Regina asked, spearing a piece of chicken on her fork.

"Dunno, think they were just hanging out for the day. Henry said something about a hike when he asked me and archery practice with Ava. They'll probably be some super hero geekery with Nicholas in there somewhere too. If he stays true to form he'll ask to spend the night later too." Emma's eyes lit up. Evil Queen outfits were in her future. She licked her lips.

Regina nodded. She had known everything Emma was going to say. She was Henry's mother long before Emma was. Emma looked at her, head titled slightly to the side. There was something else on her mind.

"You don't think that Henry's is getting too old to stay over with Ava? He's thirteen. He'll be dating soon." Regina's voice hitched at the last part.

Emma smiled kindly. "No, I don't worry about him and Ava."

"Why not? She's not the best influence. She could be pressuring him into doing something he doesn't want to."

"You raised Henry better than that, Regina. He won't do anything wrong. And Ava won't be pressuring him to do anything that you're thinking anyway."

"Why are you so certain?" Regina regarded Emma carefully, searching her face.

Emma snorted. "You really don't see the way she looks at you when she comes over, do you?"

Regina's face scrunched, confused. "Whatever do you mean, Miss Swan?"

Emma stuffed another bite of grilled cheese in her mouth. "I mean that she looks at you like you're a tiger or something, beautiful, something she wants, but something that's able to kill her in an instant."

"I don't understand. And don't talk with your mouth full, Miss Swan, I swear sometimes you're worse than our son." Regina rolled her eyes.

Emma swallowed. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. "But what I mean is, the kid's got a major crush on you. And she's also scared shitless of you, but that's half the town anyway." Emma shrugged. "She's not going to try anything with Henry because she's not interested in Henry or anyone with Henry's anatomy. They're just friends."

"You don't know that, Ava could like both."

"Pay attention to the kid sometime, Regina. It's really obvious. She hasn't exactly learned subtly yet. She checks out just about every attractive female that walks by but doesn't even glance at the hottest guys around here."

"And why have you observed this." Regina glared.

"Because I was worried about the same thing as you are right now, Regina. Remember, I'm the one who got pregnant at seventeen? I kinda didn't want the kid to have any opportunity to repeat my mistakes. Not that I think he will, he's a better kid than I ever was, but still, you know?"

Regina nodded. "And you're truly sure."

"Yes, Regina, besides Henry totally has a crush on Paige anyway, so it's not like even if Ava was straight that anything would happen. Boy's got it bad."

"Wait, Henry has a crush?!"

Emma laughed. "Regina, I think you might need to start paying more attention. The kids around here are growing up. You miss a lot if you think of them as totally sexless, innocent beings."

Regina looked down and sighed. "I suppose you're right, Emma. I just don't want him to grow up so fast."

Emma grabbed one of Regina's hands across the table. "I know, I don't either. Feels like I just got here and he's going to be gone and grown up and away at college the second I blink at the wrong time."

"I feel that way, too, and I've been here the whole time." She looked up at Emma with slightly watery eyes. "We're both going to be sobbing messes when he leaves for college, aren't we."

Emma laughed. "We will be, but for now that's five years away. We don't need to worry about that just yet. He's still our little boy, even if he's going to be taller than you by the end of the year."

Regina wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled. "Good."

They finished the rest of the meal in silence, never letting go of the other's hand.

* * *

Their meal done, they migrated into Regina's study. Emma curled up on one end of the couch, book in hand while Regina leaned her back against Emma's side, stretching her legs out across the rest of the couch and resting a lap desk on them. Regina caught up on paperwork while the blonde caught up on her latest trashy romance novel. The brunette conjured two glasses of apple cider and lit the fireplace in front of them. Emma sipped on her glass and she turned the pages of her book, alternating between scoffing at the ridiculousness of the story and being intensely interested in it. All the while Regina's pen scratched across official town documents.

Emma reached the end of a chapter and stuck her bookmark between the pages. She threw the book onto the end table and turned slightly towards Regina.

"You know most people don't do paperwork on the weekend."

"Most people aren't still trying to right the town from the mess your parents made when they forced my departure," Regina replied, signing another document.

"That was two and a half years ago."

"Yes, well, when your parents screw something up they don't do it half way."

"You're being serious, you're still dealing with their mess?"

"Yes, Miss Swan. And I will still be dealing with it for another two years at least. Then perhaps our town's budget will finally be to rights again."

"Jesus, Regina, I didn't know it was really that bad."

Regina shrugged. "It's nothing that I can't handle. Though I do have to suppress the urge to slap your mother for spending fifty thousand dollars in less than two weeks, and that was one of her less…offensive moves as mayor of the town. But wanting to harm Snow White is a natural state for me, so it's easily ignored."

"How the hell do you spend that much money in two weeks?"

"You know your new cruiser?"

"Yeah, I love that thing." Emma smiled. That was one of the better perks of being Sheriff actually. She got to drive the new cruiser and actually feel like a legitimate cop, not like Barney Fife in a cruiser that was literally as old as she was.

"Well, that's where most of it went. The rest went to building animal habitats around town, mostly birdhouses."

Emma put her head in her hands. "Of course birdhouses would be in there somewhere. Fucking bluebirds everywhere."

Regina snorted. "At least you don't live with her anymore darling. Now you can avoid dealing with her avian minions as much as possible."

"Rats, rats with wings." Emma shivered. After the curse broke progressively more and more bluebirds had followed Snow around until she practically had her own flock every time she stepped outside. They were well behaved enough that everyone else didn't mind. But Emma _hated_ birds. "But seriously how did they manage to keep the town running for six months if they spent money that recklessly?"

"Obviously they really didn't, dear, or I wouldn't be mayor again. Your mother obviously didn't pay attention to her lessons back in our world about how to control the kingdom's finances. She spent most of the town surplus that's only supposed to be used in emergencies plus all of that year's budget as well." It was Regina's turn to shiver. "That year was a nightmare."

Emma remembered that year well. Regina had been constantly cranky for a month and more than one creative death threat against her mother had been lodged. She had thought Regina was just being dramatic about the mess her mother had left in her wake, but apparently not.

"It's going to take another two years to restore the surplus to what it should be, thus why money has been tight as of late in the town budget. The last thing we need is a Nor'easter to hit us and not have the money to clean up the town."

Emma nodded. "Yeah, makes sense. So that's why you snap if I request more paper than allotted at the end of the year."

"That would be one reason, Miss Swan. The other being I know you waste at least some of it playing paper basketball."

Emma blushed lightly. "What can I say, it's not like much is happening around town anymore."

"Regardless, Miss Swan, you shouldn't be wasting resources like that. You have dartboard if you really need to be entertained that badly. Or if you're really bored you could always come upstairs and file paperwork for me."

"Uh…" Emma would rather fall off a three story building. That's what she had volunteer deputies for.

"That's what I thought." Regina smirked.

Emma extricated her arm from under Regina and wrapped it around the other woman's waist.

"Fine you win, I'll stop playing paper basketball and I'll stop questioning your paperwork habits." Emma kissed Regina's temple. "You work too hard you know."

Regina sighed heavily. "It's the only way I'll keep my job. If I don't perform impeccably, someone will endeavor to take it from me. You know that."

Emma squeezed her tighter. "I know, but they would have to go through me first."

"Thank you, Emma," Regina said quietly.

"You're always welcome, my queen."

Emma picked up her book again and opened it to where she left off. Regina pulled the book out of her hands a second later.

"You know, _you_ don't have to read these…atrocious excuses for literature."

Emma snorted. "If I wanted to read literature I sure as hell wouldn't be reading romance novels. At least modern ones anyway."

"Then why read this glorified smut?"

"For laughs mostly. Though sometimes it does give me some _creative_ ideas." Emma grinned at Regina.

"Do not tell me some of the things we've done in the bedroom have been inspired by romance novels."

Emma shrugged. "I didn't tell you, you figured it out. And believe me, you've liked some of the things I've tried."

Regina groaned. "Don't inform me of which ones, I want to remain ignorant on this particular issue. I do not want to knowingly enable this habit of yours. I don't even see how you can get past the first page. The writing is usually horrendous and the plot formulaic at best and do not even get me started about the characters and their characterization."

Emma pulled back and looked at Regina closely. "Regina Mills, are you a literary snob?"

"I prefer literary critic."

"Oh come on, Regina, it's not like you could write a better story."

Regina cocked an eyebrow. "Miss Swan I had 28 years to do whatever I pleased, why wouldn't I try my hand at writing?"

"Oh my god, you wrote a romance novel?" Emma's eyes were the size of saucers.

"I didn't say that, now did I, Miss Swan?" Regina looked away from Emma.

"But you _did_, you look away when you're trying to hide something. Oh my god, Regina you _have _to show me. Pretty please?" Emma shot her the best puppy dog eyes she had.

"I'd rather not."

"Oh come on, Regina, you can't just tell me you wrote a book and not expect me to want to read it."

"I can ask you not to, however."

Emma paused for a moment. "Are you, Mayor Regina Mills, actually embarrassed by something you wrote?"

"It wasn't as if anyone else was going to see it. I wrote it for myself."

"So it's kinky."

"_Miss Swan_." Regina glared.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Regina, I sleep with you and have slept with you for three years for god's sake. We have anything but a vanilla sex life. Need I remind you of the Evil Queen outfit you owe me later tonight?"

Regina sighed and looked at Emma. "Fine, it may have had a BDSM premise."

Emma's eyebrows rose in surprise. That definitely wasn't something they had tried yet. "So basically you wrote Fifty Shades of Grey three decades before it actually came out."

"Oh please," Regina snorted. "It's quite obvious whoever wrote that knew nothing about what they were doing."

"And you do?"

Regina just looked at Emma. "One doesn't become the Evil Queen and not know a thing or two by the end of her reign."

"We're going to come back to this at one point. And you are going to let me read that book if it's the last thing I do, but Jesus, Regina, that's so fucking hot I don't even know what to do with myself."

"Really, Miss Swan, I didn't think it would be something that you would be interested in."

"I'm up to try anything once, Regina. You should already know that. But we'll come back to that later. For now I think you should go change into an Evil Queen outfit. I don't think I can wait any longer."

"You're imagining me in all leather with a riding crop, aren't you?"

"…maybe."

Regina smiled. "I think I have just the thing." She turned more fully and caressed Emma's face. "And if you're truly interested we will talk about everything later." She set her paperwork aside and strode from the room. "Give me fifteen minutes to get ready, Miss Swan," drifted back to Emma, still sitting on the couch in the study, slightly spellbound. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing that she ended up this way so often around Regina, or pathetic.

The corners of Emma's mouth turned up. Good. Always good.

* * *

"You may come up now, Miss Swan," Regina called a short time later.

Emma scrambled off the couch and ran up the stairs, practically tripping over herself to get there as soon as possible. She stopped dead at the doorway to their bedroom. Regina sat on the edge of the bed, legs crossed regally, staring at Emma expectantly. Emma sucked in a breath.

Holy hell.

Regina stood and stalked towards her. Emma swallowed hard as she got a full look at the outfit. Tight leather pants encased Regina's legs, leaving little to the imagination. Emma watched, entranced by the way her muscles flexed under the material. The leather pants lead down to practical but still very sexy riding boots. Emma felt her mouth go dry.

Emma's eyes drifted back up Regina's form to take in the red riding coat that fell almost to the floor. It synched in Regina's already tiny waist and pushed her boobs outward for Emma's perusal and enjoyment. The shirt underneath the coat was low cut enough for Emma to see almost everything she wished. Her eyes continued their journey up Regina's neck and finally looking at her face. Regina's make up was darker, much more dramatic than usual. It made her eyes pop and intensified Regina's natural beauty.

"See something you like, Miss Swan?" Regina asked, voice deeper, practically oozing sex.

"Yes, lord, yes. Holy fuck, Regina. I like this outfit even better than the one with the crazy top hat. I mean, shit. I don't even know what I mean anymore."

Emma stepped forward, reaching out to touch the other woman.

Regina stepped away. "Not so fast, Miss Swan."

"Regina," Emma whined. She couldn't stand not touching the woman right at that moment.

"We haven't made it through the whole day yet. You haven't quite earned this outfit yet, dear."

Emma groaned. "You aren't going to be that evil are you? Please tell me you aren't. Because I will not be able to handle it if you just walk around in that outfit all day. I literally think that I would jump you on any available surface."

Regina chuckled darkly. "Oh no, I'm not going to be so cruel. But if you even so much as attempt to take me in the kitchen for the rest of the day, there will be consequences."

Emma cocked an eyebrow and smiled. "Oh really, what kind of consequences?"

Regina's eyes went hard and cold. "No sex for a week. I do not like when deals with me are broken."

Emma gasped. "God no, please Regina, you know I can't go that long. I'll literally combust."

"Then see that you do nothing in our kitchen."

Emma nodded vigorously.

"Good." Regina stepped forward and played with the hem of Emma's shirt. "Then we may proceed. Get rid of this, Miss Swan. It's hiding my view."

Emma had her t-shirt on the floor in under five seconds. She stepped closer to Regina and laced her hands in the brunette's soft hair and brought her in for a kiss. Regina immediately took charge and Emma gladly let her. Regina's tongue left no corner of her mouth unexplored. Emma groaned lightly and clutched Regina's hair tightly. Regina gasped lightly from the pain in her scalp, but further melted into the kiss.

Emma felt Regina's hand move across the plains of her stomach and around to her back, stroking her lower back for a few seconds. Emma arched into the contact, but Regina's hands moved on a second later. They traveled further up her back, leaving goose bumps in their wake. Regina fingered the clasp of her bra for a second before expertly undoing it. The straps fell down Emma's arms and hung limp, the only thing keep her bra in place now was Regina's body.

Regina gently eased them apart and tugged on Emma's hand until they unwound from her hair. Emma's bra was on the floor in the next instant. Emma stepped forward again, hands going for the button on Regina's riding coat instead of her hair. She needed to feel her skin on Regina's. She needed it now.

She flicked open the button easily enough and pushed it off Regina's shoulders and onto the floor. Emma frowned at the row of little buttons that held the shirt beneath together. Those would take _forever_ to get off.

Regina chuckled quietly, more of a rumble in her chest than anything substantive, at the look on Emma's face. Emma glared up at her.

"Why do all your clothes from Fairy Tale Land have to look so damn good, but be so damn complicated."

Regina smirked. "You haven't even seen what's under the shirt dear."

"You did not wear a corset just to spite me. You're in a riding outfit, Regina, don't tell me you went riding in a corset."

Regina shrugged. "I had to look my best at all times, Miss Swan."

Emma groaned and set to work on the small buttons. "How is that even possible, Regina."

Regina leaned in and licked the shell of Emma's ear. Emma's breath left her in a giant whoosh. God, it should be a crime how much Regina affected her.

"Magic, Miss Swan, it always comes back to magic."

Emma finally hit the last button and pushed the shirt from Regina's shoulders to pool on the floor with the coat. Underneath was a white lace corset. Emma stared at Regina for a few seconds. As much as she hated getting them off, lord were they hot. Emma's fingers ghosted across the swell of Regina's breasts where they met the fabric of the corset. The skin erupted into goose bumps.

"I suggest you get on with undressing me, Miss Swan. I am not a patient woman."

Emma leaned in and started to kiss Regina's neck, returning to the same spot she had bitten earlier and adding to the light mark she had left there. Regina was hers and everyone would know it.

She kissed her way up to Regina's ear. "We all know you're the most patient person out there…except when you're aroused," she whispered. Regina shivered under her.

Suddenly Emma found herself on her back on the bed. She hadn't even seen Regina move. Emma smiled at the woman hovering over her. Regina looked down at her hungrily.

"Your observations are accurate, Miss Swan." She lowered her head to Emma's breast, taking a hardening nipple into her mouth.

Emma moaned loudly. She laced her hands through Regina's hair again and pushed her head further into her body. Regina's tongue circled her nipple in response, coaxing it into a peak. The brunette's left hand glided across Emma's body and played with the other nipple, rolling it and circling it lightly, making it stand to attention as well. Regina let Emma's nipple go with a pop and switched to the other side.

Emma started to squirm under her. She was soaked and ready to go. She didn't know how much more she could take. She needed Regina inside of her right now.

"Regina, please," she groaned as Regina bit down lightly on her nipple.

Regina looked up at Emma, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She released Emma's nipple and sat up. "Please what, Em-_ma_." She smiled with kiss bruised lips.

Emma thought she could come just from Regina saying her name like that. "I need you to fuck me, Regina, please."

Regina smiled wider. "As you wish, my white knight."

Regina swung off of her and rid Emma of her pants and panties in one smooth motion. She crawled up Emma's body once again. She kissed Emma hard. Emma responded immediately, desperately, trying to convey how much she needed the other woman in that instant.

"Fingers or mouth?" Regina purred in her ear.

"God, I don't care as long as you do something."

Regina pulled back and smiled predatorily. "Both it is."

Emma groaned and fisted her hands in the sheets below her. God, she really didn't understand how Regina could be so fucking sexy.

Regina started kissing her way down Emma's body, stopping at certain places she knew drove Emma wild and spending a few seconds at each. Emma started squirming again now that Regina's weight wasn't fully on top of her. A few agonizing seconds later Regina was finally where Emma needed her.

A whine escaped Emma's mouth as she felt Regina's breath ghost across her clit. "Re-gi-naaaa," she moaned.

Just as Regina lowered her head Emma's cell phone rang.

"Do not answer that I beg of you. I might just kill whoever is on the other side," Emma said, panting.

Regina sat up and dug Emma's cellphone from her jeans pocket. "It's Henry, dear. I have to answer."

"First the kid costs me a week of laundry now this. God, can I disown him?"

Regina chuckled. "No, dear, you can't." Regina hit the answer button on Emma's phone and brought it up to her ear.

"Hello, Henry," Regina said cheerfully. She paused for a second. "Of course dear, just make sure you're home tomorrow before noon like normal." She paused again. "Yes, dear, I love you too. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye, dear."

Regina hit the end call button and threw down the phone, crawling back up and settling herself in the same position she was in before the phone rang. "You were right, Miss Swan, our son wanted to spend the night at Ava and Nicholas's. Which leaves us alone the whole night to do. Whatever. We. Want." Each of the last words were punctuated by a long lick across Emma's clit.

Emma's hips bucked as shocks of pleasure rippled through her body. "God, yes!" Emma exclaimed.

She felt Regina smile as she started to lick Emma in earnest. Regina alternated between short and long licks, changing it up, preventing a definite pattern from building Emma up to the peak. Emma squirmed harder, trying to get what she needed.

One of Regina's arms snaked across her hips and held her down, preventing her from squirming too much. Emma groaned loudly. Regina was such a god damn tease at all the wrong times.

And then without preamble two fingers entered her. Emma screamed and clenched her fists in the sheets that much harder. She felt like she was going to rip them. She didn't care.

Regina pumped in and out of her steadily, finally settling into a rhythm to match with her tongue. Emma felt herself getting closer and closer to the edge, warmth building at the base of her spine. The muscles in her thighs started to quiver. The noises that were escaping her throat were far from human. God, she was so close.

"Open your eyes and look at me, darling." Regina said, ceasing her licking for a few seconds.

Emma pried her eyes open and looked at Regina as the brunette set to work once again. It was a struggle not to shut her eyes and twist herself back into the pillow once again, but brown eyes held her there. Her muscles quivered harder, the warmth at the base of her spine was almost unbearable.

With one scrape of Regina's teeth against her clit she was gone, over the edge into oblivion. Her eyes closed of their own accord and her body arched tightly.

"Regina!" she screamed.

She came down from her high slowly. Her body was heavy and aftershocks kept coursing through her. Emma blinked open her eyes slowly. Regina lay with her head on Emma's lower stomach looking at her softly.

"Welcome back." She pulled her fingers out of Emma and licked them slowly.

Emma groaned and flopped her head back. "Holy shit, Regina, that was one for the record books."

Regina hummed around her fingers. They exited her mouth a second later, clean once again. "I'm glad dear."

"Jesus, I don't think I can move yet, but when I can I'm fucking you into next Tuesday." Emma lifted her head up just in time to see a flash of desire flicker through Regina's eyes.

Regina crawled up Emma's body and nestled her head in the crook of Emma's neck. "I look forward to it, Emma."

Emma wrapped her arms around Regina's body and drew her closer. She buried her nose in Regina's hair and inhaled lightly, taking in the scent of the other woman, apple shampoo and something muskier that was purely Regina. Slowly, the heavy feeling left her limbs. She shifted and lifted Regina's head to meet her eyes.

"Hi," Emma said, smiling warmly.

"Hello, darling." Regina returned the smile. "Feeling more alive are we?"

"Mhm." Emma leaned down and captured Regina's lips. This time she was the one in charge of the kiss. Emma sighed contentedly, tracing every part of Regina's mouth she could reach.

Emma's hands wandered down Regina's sides and around to her back, toying with the laces of the corset. She undid the knot after a few tries and started to slowly loosen the laces as best she could from this position. Perhaps she was really getting better at this, the laces actually seemed to be obeying her will this time around. Maybe because she wasn't scrabbling to get it off of Regina this time.

When Regina deemed the laces loose enough she sat up and rid herself of the garment coming back down and pressing into Emma. Both of them groaned at the feeling of their breasts pressing together. Emma's hands roamed over the newly exposed skin lightly, tracing the paths of barely there scars and making the muscles under Regina's skin twitch at the contact. Her hands migrated up to Regina's neck pulling her in for a deeper kiss.

After a few seconds of kissing she flipped them. She ended the kiss and looked down at Regina. Regina's hair was flung out over the pillow underneath her in a dark halo. Her makeup was smudged, her lips swollen. She was absolutely stunning.

"I love you, Regina." Emma kissed her forehead lightly before dipping down to her neck and ravaging the skin there.

"I love you—ah—too," Regina gasped back, tangling her hands in golden curls.

Emma licked, nipped, and sucked until Regina's neck and collarbones were thoroughly marked and Regina was squirming underneath her, moaning loudly. Regina would probably yell later, but it was winter, turtlenecks and scarves were appropriate and tomorrow was Sunday anyway.

She moved down Regina's body, moving to her breasts and giving them the same treatment she had received earlier, plus a few extra marks where ever she felt like leaving them. Emma moved slowly to her stomach, licking the ab muscles there and making them tremble and twitch. A swirl of her tongue into Regina's belly button received and extra loud moan before Emma continued her trek towards her final destination.

When she reached the hem of Regina's leather pants she licked along the edge, taste of the leather mixing with the taste of Regina's skin. Her hands went about unlacing the front quickly and pulling them down. Emma settled herself comfortably between Regina's legs, hooking one over her shoulder for better access. Once she was happy with her placement she looked up at Regina and smiled. The brunette's head was flung back into the pillow, her chest heaved up and down, a light blush across it. It was a delicious sight.

She lowered her head and took her first taste of Regina, moaning as the brunette's essence coated her tongue, slightly sweet and tangy, much like the woman herself. Emma wasn't up for teasing Regina. Not after the orgasm she had just had. No she'd give Regina what she needed, sans teasing. She could always tease later.

She licked in short strokes over Regina's clit until she felt Regina's thighs started to clench around her. Smiling, she lowered herself even further and plunged her tongue inside. Regina's walls contracted, squeezing her tongue and trying to pull it further inside. She kept pulling her tongue in and out making sure to run it over the rough patch that always made Regina moan the loudest.

Regina's moans were getting shorter and breathier. She was so very close. Emma circled one of her hands around Regina's legs and pinched Regina's clit lightly. A gush of fluid hit Emma's tongue as Regina came. Emma lapped up every bit as Regina came down and her legs unclenched from around Emma's head.

She crawled up Regina's body and settled lightly on top of her. She brought her lips to the brunette's and kissed her languidly, allowing the other woman to taste herself on Emma's tongue. She pulled back a minute later and flopped her head down in the crook of Regina's neck. Now that Regina was taken care of her body was heavy and sated again.

"After a nap we're going to wake up and we're going to order take out for dinner from whatever place that you find to be the least offensive and we're going to fuck all night long on various surfaces until we pass out. Sound good?"

"Mmm," Regina hummed into her hair.

"Good. Because I love you so fucking much and you're so fucking hot I literally do not ever want to stop touching you."

"I love you too, Emma. So much I don't even think you realize it some days."

Emma sat up just enough to peck Regina on the lips quickly before laying down again. "You'd be surprised how much I catch on, your majesty."

Regina chuckled tiredly. "Some days I am. Other days, I'm not surprised at all."

Emma smiled, closed her eyes, and fell asleep still on top of Regina shortly after.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys! Sorry this is such a short chapter, when I wrote everything it was in a big old hunk with only scene breaks and no real chapters, so sometimes when I'm trying to split it up thematically this happens. A next, longer chapter should be up sometimes soon. Enjoy. And reviews are always welcome :)

* * *

Emma lazed on the couch in the family room the next day. Her feet were stretched out in front of her, blanket wrapped around her legs, and pillows behind her back. She was as comfortable as she was going to get considering every time she moved even a little bit some muscle or another would send a slight zing of pain through her body. She rubbed her lower back gently. She was sure there was going to be a bruise there, if there wasn't already. God, why did they think it was a good idea to have sex on the stairs? But Jesus, it had been worth it at the time.

Now, however, the remote was all the way at the other end of the couch on the end table and there was no way she was moving.

"Reginaaaa," Emma called, whining slightly.

"Emma, I am not getting the remote control for you," Regina said, muffled a bit. Emma figured she must have been in the kitchen.

"But, Gina!"

"We have been over this, Miss Swan. You do not call me Gina under any circumstances."

"But, _Regina_, you're the reason I'm so sore."

"Take some ibuprofen. I'm not without my own aches and pains from last night." Regina walked in the room and smirked at Emma from the door way.

"You fucked me on the stairs. That out does anything I did to you."

"Rug burn, Miss Swan, on places there never should be rug burn." Regina cocked an eyebrow.

Emma pursed her lips. "We call it a tie?"

Regina considered for a minute. "Fair enough, Emma."

She backed out of the room for a minute and returned a few seconds later with two sandwiches and two glasses of iced tea. Regina set down the plate of sandwiches and drinks and picked up Emma's legs. The brunette sat down and resituated Emma's feet in her lap. She reached for the plate of sandwiches and one of the glasses of tea. Regina set the plate in the middle of Emma's legs, balancing it carefully before handing Emma the glass of tea.

Emma took it gratefully, smiling widely. She took a drink and smacked her lips. Even Regina's tea was better than normal. She reached for one of the sandwiches on the plate in front of her.

Regina took her own sandwich, taking a bite and swallowing, face thoughtful. "I did tell Henry to be home by noon like normal, didn't I?"

Emma nodded. "At least I think so. I was a little too far gone at that point to be sure."

Regina snorted. "Well, in any case it's five after."

"Call the kid, maybe he lost track of time. He could be on his way home now, too. Hell, maybe he's being a normal thirteen year old and is still asleep." Emma shrugged.

"Alright, I'll call him when I'm done." She nodded and took another bite from her sandwich. Emma followed Regina's tongue as Regina licked the crumbs off her lip.

"The kid probably got my sense of time management." Emma laughed and brushed a few crumbs off her stomach.

"What sense of time management, darling?"

"Exactly."

Regina glared at her fondly. "At least you admit to your faults."

Both of them perked up as they heard the front door open and close and the signature thump of Henry throwing off his shoes in the foyer. Probably in a messy heap that would draw Regina's ire later. Emma gave the kid points for trying at least. Regina wasn't so forgiving.

"Henry?" Regina asked, swallowing another bite of sandwich.

Henry appeared in the doorway. "Yeah, Mom?"

"You're a little late, dear." Regina looked at him disapprovingly.

"Sorry, the last level of the new Avenger's game took longer than I thought it was going to." Henry shuffled his feet.

"That's fine, dear, just make sure you keep a better eye on the time next time, ok?"

"Sure."

"Are you hungry?"

"Nah, Nicholas and I ate breakfast like an hour ago."

"Ok, dear, just let me know if you would like anything." Regina smiled warmly.

Henry nodded and turned and left the room, thundering up the stairs a second later.

"How did we luck out and get such a good kid?" Emma asked, polishing off the last of the sandwich.

"I'm not sure, Emma, but I'm so glad we did." Regina grabbed the plate off of Emma's legs and set it on the table. She lifted the blanket off of Emma's legs and crawled up beside the blonde, tucking herself into Emma's side.

Emma sighed and wrapped an arm around Regina's shoulders and rested her head against the other woman's. Regina settled the blanket across their legs again and snuggled further into Emma.

"I'm glad I have you too," Emma said quietly.

Regina squeezed her tightly. "Thank you Emma. I thank every supernatural being I can think of everyday that I have you, as well."

They snuggled like that for a few minutes, basking in one another's presence. Emma eventually turned and looked down at Regina. Regina looked back at her questioningly.

"Regina, you forgot to grab the remote."

Regina rolled her eyes and slapped Emma's arm lightly. "You just had to go and ruin the moment didn't you, dear?"

Emma shrugged. "It's what I'm good at."

Regina snuggled into her side again. "True, but I love you anyway."

Emma lifted a hand to stoke Regina's hair lightly. "I love you, too."

Henry appeared in the doorway again a little while later. "Are you guys busy? Can I watch TV? There's this new special on the History Channel about knights in the middle ages that I want to watch. It comes on in a couple minutes.

Emma and Regina drew up their legs in unison. "Go ahead kid, grab a seat."

"Cool." Henry flopped down on the newly revealed seat and grabbed the remote. A second later the History Channel started playing.

Emma counted slowly to see how long it was before the program on screen mentioned aliens. She made it thirty seconds and snorted.

"Counting to see how long it takes for someone to mention aliens again?" Regina mumbled against her chest.

"Maybe." Emma drew out the word in a sing song voice.

Regina chuckled quietly and went back to watching the screen. They all sat together quietly watching the TV in front of them until Henry's knight program came on. Henry sat up attentively eyes never leaving the screen. A few minutes in even Regina was engrossed. Emma only felt Regina's eye lashes brush the skin on her chest a few times a minute. Emma herself couldn't get into the program. It wasn't something she was interested in, nor particularly wanted to know about. Too many people wanted her to be the savior, the white knight. She didn't want any more knowledge that might convince people that she was taking that title seriously.

Instead, Emma let her thoughts wander. What she had to do at the station the next day, how she had to pick up Regina's dry cleaning because of that stupid bet, what was for dinner, the woman in her arms, the kid at the end of the couch so eager to learn, anything and everything. She was warm, content, and happy. God, she had been happy for so long she found it unbelievable.

She kept running her hand through Regina's short hair. She wanted to feel happy like this for the rest of her life. She wanted to grow old with Regina, make love to her at every available opportunity, help her raise Henry, send him off to college, watch him raise a family of his own, play with their grandkids with Regina at her side, tease Regina when she slipped them more sweets than strictly necessary, tell her she loved her whenever she felt the urge, hold her every night until end came. She wanted it so bad that it was a physical ache in her chest. She would do anything to keep this family of hers.

She glanced down at Regina. Regina's eyes were still glued to the TV. The woman was a goddess even on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It should be a crime, but as long as she benefitted from it, it would never be illegal on her watch. God, she wanted to be there every day just to stare at her perfection. Regina was perfect in every way. Someday Emma would make her realize that.

Emma gasped lightly. She knew what she had to do. A smile lit her face. She would propose to Regina. She would promise to spend the rest of her life with the woman in her arms. She would get to do all the things she wanted to do. She would get to show Regina that she was someone who deserved to be loved. She would propose to her. And she would do it so perfectly that Regina would see just how amazing she was.

She squeezed Regina tighter and finally brought her eyes to the TV screen. She would start planning tomorrow. Emma felt butterflies fill her stomach.

She couldn't wait.


	3. Chapter 3

Here's that update I promised soonish. Five days is sort of soonish? Eh. At least it's a longer chapter. Enjoy and reviews are always welcome.

* * *

Emma paced the Sheriff's Station. The problem with planning a perfect proposal was you actually had to know how to plan a proposal period. Emma had absolutely no freaking clue what to do. She knew there was a ring. She knew there was a romantic and vaguely cheesy speech. She knew the proposal came after something romantic like a really fancy dinner or something. But that was all she knew, and she learned all of that from movies. She really didn't want to plan her proposal to Regina based off of crappy Rom-coms.

And it wasn't like she even knew how to plan that sort of cheesy proposal even if that _was_ what she wanted to do. The most romantic she ever got was flowers and chocolate. How the hell was she supposed to plan this? How the hell was she supposed to make everything worthy of Regina when she had no clue what she was really doing?

God, she needed help. But who did she know that would even know how to help her? Ruby wasn't married and was more of a seductive person than a romantic person. Archie was single as the day was long. Henry was 13. Granny would probably suggest to propose by crossbow. She groaned and walked over to the wall and banged her head against it. Who the hell in this town actually knew anything that would actually help?

She stood up straight. She could have hit herself. Duh. Her fucking parents were the paragon of true love. She could ask her father how he proposed. Surely that would help her. They were the only ones that could help that she could think of anyway. She swallowed hard. She really hoped this worked out.

Emma glanced up at the clock. It was close enough to lunch time to justify leaving. She grabbed her leather jacket and strode out the door.

* * *

Emma walked into her parent's apartment a few minutes later. Her father was sitting on the couch munching on a bowl of cereal and watching TV happily. He smiled up at Emma as she shut the door behind her, a drop of milk trailing from the corner of his mouth down his chin.

"Hey, Dad," Emma said, flopping down on the couch.

David swallowed and wiped away the drop of milk. "Hey, Emma.  
He squinted. "Aren't you on shift right now?"

Emma shrugged. "Lunch break."

David nodded understandingly. The father and daughter shared a love of food. "Ah, well, all we really have is cereal, but you're welcome to it. Snow has to go to the store after school today."

"Cereal's good enough." Emma got up and fixed herself a bowl and sat back down beside her father.

They spent a few minutes eating silently together, both staring at the TV. Emma didn't really absorb anything that was going on. She thought it was a cop show, but she wasn't really sure. Her mind was on other things like what exactly to ask her father. She wondered if there was any way to phrase her question so that her father wouldn't freak out. In the three years since she and Regina had gotten together, her parents' relationship with the other woman had gotten better, but it was by no means cozy. No matter what this was going to cause somewhat of a stir.

"So, um, how exactly did you propose to Mom?" she asked, diving in head first.

"It was sort of a spur of the moment thing, really. She already had my mother's ring, we'd already been through a lot together, and I just asked her to spend the rest together with me."

"So no big romantic gestures or anything?"

"Well, we sort of were fugitives from both Regina and King George, so no. There wasn't really time."

"What would you have done if there was time?"

David scratched the back of his head. "I'm not sure. I mean even though it was rushed and spur of the moment, the way I proposed to her was sort of perfect for us. I guess I'd take her out and do something she really loved and then have dinner somewhere and propose to her." He shrugged. "Moot point now."

Emma nodded, biting her lip and scowling.

"Why? Why the sudden interest?"

Emma looked down at the table, feeling a blush rise on her cheeks. "I have no idea how to propose except for that cheesy shitty way they always do in the movies. And that's not what I want to do, so I was looking for advice."

"You're going to propose…to Regina?"

"Well, yeah, who else?"

"Oh."

"Yeah." Emma rubbed her hands across her face. "I don't even know where to start. I mean the ring is the obvious place. I need it before I can do anything else, but I have no fucking clue about anything."

"Well, I hear circular rings are quite popular."

Emma glared over at her father.

David had his face towards the floor, mirroring her earlier position. He shuffled his feet on the floor slightly. The discomfort radiated off of him in waves.

Emma's face softened a little. "No, I was going to get her a square one." The bite was still there, but less than it normally would have been. "God, I don't even know anything about jewelry. I don't know if I should go with a diamond or something else. And like cuts? Jesus Christ, this is all so complicated."

"Uh, diamonds are good? And I think hearts are pretty popular? Um, I don't know. I sort of already had my ring. I know even less than you do."

Emma sighed. "Well, it was worth a try."

"Yeah." David shrugged. "Isn't there a saying here about diamonds being a girl's best friend? And that the bigger they are, the better."

"Regina's definitely a woman, and I'm not sure she'd be inclined to agree that bigger is better. Skill is better than size." Emma smirked.

David glanced at her quickly and then looked anywhere else but her, blushing.

"So, um, your mother is going to be back later after school and grocery shopping. Why don't you try asking her? I think she'd have a much better idea of what you should do." David coughed awkwardly.

Emma stood up and grabbed both the empty bowls and walked to the sink, rinsing them out. "Sure, Dad. Thanks for trying to help anyway." She walked back to the couch and gave him a one armed hugged before walking towards the door. "I'll see if I can come over later. If not I'll text Mom or something."

Charming nodded. "Ok."

"Bye Dad, thanks for the cereal."

"Bye."

Emma glanced back as she was closing the door and saw David collapse back into the couch and rub his hands over his face. Emma lightly shrugged. It could have gone worse.

* * *

Emma pulled up to the curb outside the middle school just as the bell rang. Kids burst out of the front door a few moments later. Emma sat in her Bug, waiting for a mop of familiar dark hair to appear in the crowd. A couple minutes later Henry loped out the door. She smiled as she saw Henry stop for a minute to talk to Paige. Even from down the street she could tell he was fumbling for the right thing to say.

Emma smiled widely. It was clear that the kid hadn't inherited Neal's charm and effortless swagger with women. Or at least he hadn't yet. Emma laughed softly. This awkward fumbling was just so much cuter to watch. He'd get it right eventually, but for now she'd enjoy the show.

Henry turned away from Paige, positively beaming. He started to walk towards home, but a honk from Emma's horn caused him to look up. Emma waved him over. The kid walked towards her, eyebrow cocked in a mirror image of Regina.

"Ma? I thought I told you guys that I'm old enough to walk myself home."

"I know kid, but get in, we're going on a road trip."

Henry titled his head towards the side. "Why? Where are we going? You didn't say anything about going anywhere earlier."

"Because it wasn't planned earlier."

Henry shrugged and got in. "Alright, so where are we going?"

"Next town over." Emma pulled out and started driving.

"Johnson City is like forty five minutes away. Why are we going there?"

"Because kid."

"You aren't trying to run away are you?" Henry scrutinized her face carefully, looking for signs of anything wrong.

Emma laughed. "No, kid. The opposite actually."

"You're talking like Mr. Gold when he wants to make a deal."

"I'm not screwing anyone over, though."

"Ma." Henry looked at her flatly.

Emma took a deep breath. "Ok, kid, so here's the deal. I'm going to propose to your mom. And I sort of, maybe, need your help picking out a ring. Because honestly, kid, you have a better idea than I do what she likes sometimes. And I really, _really_ want to get this right."

Henry perked up and smiled. "Finally."

"What do you mean, finally?"

"I've been waiting for you to propose to mom since like six months after you started dating her."

Emma swiveled to look at her son. "What? Really?" She turned back to watch the road in front of them.

"Duh. Have you seen the way you look at her? Jesus, Ma, you look at her like she's made of spun gold or something. You've been head over heels in love with her since before the curse broke. Why you waited so long to propose I'll never know. You guys are true loves for god's sake. It's not like you don't know if you're right for each other or something."

"I-just-shut up kid, you aren't allowed to know more about my relationship than I do. And don't let your mother catch you talking like that. I don't want to get murdered for 'being a bad influence on your vocabulary.'"

Henry shot her a look that just screamed 'do I look that stupid?'

"But really, kid, I didn't even really think about proposing 'til yesterday. Like the thought literally didn't occur to me."

"You went for three years. And never thought about proposing? Wow, Ma, maybe Mom's quips at your intelligence aren't so far off," Henry deadpanned.

"You know I have the power to ground you, right?"

Henry rolled his eyes.

"How the hell you ended up as such a little clone of Regina, I'll never fucking know."

"Mom says I'm your clone when I annoy her."

Emma snorted. "She would." She glanced at Henry. "So are you going to help me or not, kid? It can be like another secret mission or something, because I think I'm going to need more help than just picking out the ring, you know. It just has to be perfect."

"A secret mission?! Can I name it?"

"Only if you promise to help me and I get veto power over the name. Seriously, Henry, Cobra?"

"I was ten, ma. Give me a break."

"Never."

Henry sighed heavily. "Fine. How about Operation…Hera."

"Hera? What the hell, kid?"

"She's the Greek goddess of marriage." The duh at the end of the sentence was heavily implied.

"Oh, but doesn't you Mom know that?"

"Good point." Henry sat in thought for a little while. "I've got it! Operation Jasmine."

"Like from Aladdin?" Emma's face scrunched.

"No, like the flower."

"Uh, why?"

"Because it means eternal love."

Emma looked over at Henry, disbelieving. "Why the hell do you know that, kid?"

Henry shrugged, blushing wildly. "No reason."

"Has someone been looking up flower meanings for a special someone?" Emma asked in a sing-song voice.

"NO!" Henry vehemently denied.

Emma snorted and started laughing so hard tears ran down her face. "Kid, the trick with denying something like that is to play it cool, not shout like you're at a football game. So, is it Paige?"

"Ma!"

Emma laughed harder. "What, Henry, she's cute."

"_Ma!_"

Emma kept laughing, wiping the tears from her eyes periodically so she could see to drive. "Sorry kid, I have to get my entertainment somewhere."

Henry glared at her.

"Just remember this the next time you taunt me about not proposing to your mother after six months."

Henry harrumphed and crossed his arms. "Fine. What's your cover story for this trip anyway?"

"Taking you to the comic store to get that one Iron Man comic that Storybrooke doesn't have."

Henry shrugged. "Cool, but do you think she'll buy it?"

"You got your report card today didn't you?"

Henry swallowed. "Yeah."

"What'd you get?"

"Um."

Emma twisted to look at Henry. "Don't tell me you're starting to take after me after all these years."

"Well, algebra is hard."

"What'd you get?"

"A B."

Emma rolled her eyes. "For fuck's sake kid, with the way you were sounding I thought you were going to say you failed. A B is not a bad grade. You're in an advanced high school level class. I know you went for tutoring after school; I picked you up from it enough times. Did you try to get some extra credit?"

"Well, yeah, duh."

"And let me guess, you had an A until the last minute, didn't you?"

Henry twisted his hands. "Yeah."

"Shit, kid, sometimes things like that happen. And you tried damn hard. I failed algebra twice. So you're doing fine and as long as you keep trying hard that deserves its reward, alright?"

Henry nodded. "Thanks."

Emma reached out and ruffled Henry's hair. "Of course, kid, I have to get my mothering in there somewhere."

Henry snorted. "Yeah, Ma." Henry paused a minute. "Wait, you could say that you wanted to cheer me up because I worked so hard but didn't get the grade I wanted and I was really upset."

Emma smirked. "That's close enough to the truth, it just might work."

Henry smiled. "Yeah, plus I get a comic out of it."

"Little shit, maybe you are my son." Emma shook her head fondly.

* * *

Thirty minutes later they arrived in Johnson City. A few more minutes and turns later and they pulled up to the jewelry store that Emma had looked up on Google. God bless Google. It saved her ass multiple times, this time included. Anywhere was better than going to Gold for an engagement ring. Smug bastard would have lorded it over her or totally blown the secret.

The store in front of her was both not owned by Gold and suited Regina's general style better than the other two located in the town. Or so Emma thought anyway. She really hoped she was right.

"Ready kid?" She asked, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"Yeah." He looked at her like she was a little crazy.

"Alright," Emma sat there for another few moments, taking a few deep breaths.

"Ma, you're buying a ring. You aren't facing a dragon or anything."

"Kid, that might scare me a bit less."

The look on his face morphed from 'you're a little crazy' to 'you're fucking insane.' "You really need to sort out your priorities."

"I have my priorities right where they should be. You and your mom are the most important things in my life. I really don't want to fuck this up, Henry."

"Well, the thing that will screw this up fastest is not having a ring. So let's go."

"Alright."

Henry just looked at her.

"I mean it this time." Emma opened up her door and stepped out into the Maine cold. She puffed out a breath, watching it float away on the wind. She could do this.

She started walking across the street, Henry at her side. The shop in front of her was small, but located in good area. It was surrounded by other eclectic shops and small designer boutiques. The jewelry shop itself was on the eclectic side. Not exactly Regina's usual style, but something about the shop had just called out to her on the internet. There was nothing wrong with checking it out she assured herself.

Emma stood outside the door for a few seconds before Henry pushed past her and barged into the store, setting off a soft chime. She swallowed and followed her son. The inside of the shop was filled with display cases that were filled with pieces both large and small. The walkways between the cases were narrow enough that she could just walk side by side with Henry. She felt more than a little claustrophobic.

She shook herself. She needed to look at rings. Emma looked around seeing if she could easily spot what she wanted. Everything was in a jumble it seemed. Necklaces with earrings, watches with rings, tie pins with bracelets, and everything in-between. Emma sighed. She'd be here for a little while.

Emma started to wander around, looking closely at everything. Nothing here screamed Regina. Perhaps she had picked the wrong store. She ran her hands through her hair. She might as well look at everything while she was here though just in case.

She kept walking around, methodically making sure she looked at every case. Henry was doing the same, not pleased by anything he saw either. Emma had to admit the jewelry here was pretty and looked well-made and was definitely unique, it just wasn't…right.

"_Regina likes simple things,"_ Daniel thought at her. _"Just get her a simple gold band, Emma, she'll love it."_

Emma scowled. _"Shut up, lover boy. You get no input on this, you're dead."_

"_But—"_

Emma shoved him into the back of her mind, effectively shutting him up. She didn't know why he still tried to but in after all these years. She wasn't him. He didn't seem to get that.

Emma shook her head and kept looking.

Emma sighed as she reached the last case. At least she could move on now that everything was looked at. She turned to call to Henry when something in the corner of the case caught her eye. It was a ring, white gold with small diamonds surrounding a centerpiece made out of what looked like sapphire and amethyst. She snapped back around and crouched down to look at it closer.

The sapphire and amethyst were cut in a strange fashion, round and one end and narrowing to a point that wrapped around the round end of the other stone. It almost looked like a yin and yang symbol. The setting itself gripped the stones securely, the white metal making the color more intense.

She looked down at her hands. Back in Storybrooke they would be glowing the same clear blue of the sapphire. But magic wasn't possible here, so her hands stayed normal. Emma was willing to bet her life that the amethyst would match the color of Regina's magic perfectly. And yin and yang represented balance. Regina was her balance.

The ring was perfect.

"Henry," she breathed.

Henry appeared at her side a second later. "Yeah?"

She pointed. "What do you think of that one?"

Henry's eyes widened slightly. "I think she'll like it."

"You really think so?" She turned to look at him hopefully.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Emma smile lit up her whole face. "Good, kid, I think so too."

She stood up and looked around the tiny shop. There was no one to be seen, but there was a bell by the cash register. Emma walked over and hit it, the ring echoed slightly around the store. A second later an older woman appeared from a door that Emma hadn't even seen.

"Hello," the woman said, smiling, lighting up her tan face.

"Hi." Emma smiled back.

"Can I help you with anything?"

"Uh, yeah, actually. Um, the ring over in that case." Emma pointed to the last one the ring was in.

The woman strode over and unlocked the case, standing behind it and looking at Emma expectantly.

Emma walked over and pointed at the ring. "Yeah that one. I, uh, I'm proposing to my girlfriend. I think she'd love it."

The woman smiled. "Certainly an interesting choice. Very…unique."

"She's a very special woman. I'm not exactly sure she'd go for heart shaped diamonds." Emma shrugged.

"Nor should she." The woman drew a sheet from the case and looked down at it, consulting it. "The ring is 5500 dollars, with sales tax it's 5750. And since we are a small store we don't do financing ourselves. I'm sorry for that inconvenience."

Emma swallowed hard. She had a thousand dollars on her. And very, very shitty credit score left over from her first days out of jail. She was going to have to earn the money herself. But with Regina's still slashed salary at home she could only set aside two hundred a month. Emma did the math quickly. At that rate it would take her two years to earn the money.

Tears pricked at her eyes. Damn it the perfect thing was literally right in front her and she couldn't fucking get it because she wasn't rich enough. God, wasn't that the story of her life.

Emma looked down. It would take her two years. Unless she got a second job. Emma smiled. With a job as a bartender she could probably make the money she needed in a couple of months.

"I, uh, don't have that much money right now. Is there any way I could like, put it on layaway or something?" Emma asked, looking at the ring.

"I can put it on hold for you for three months. After that it's fair game again."

Emma nodded. She could work with that. She would have to bust her ass for tips, but she'd done it before, she could do it again. Anything for Regina.

"That sounds good," Emma finally said.

"Good, good. Let me go get the paperwork." The woman bustled off.

Ten minutes later the paperwork was done and Emma was floating out of the store on cloud nine. She had done it. She had found the perfect ring. She was one step closer to being able to propose to Regina, to being able to spend the rest of her life with the woman she loved. She sighed happily. So what if she would be working doubles for the next few months. It would be so worth it. Now if she was lucky everything would fall together this perfectly.

Her cell phone went off in her pocket. She pulled it out and answered it as she slid into the Bug.

"Hello," she said, slightly dreamily.

"Emma! Henry isn't at home. Oh god, Emma you have to find him! I called all of his usual hang outs just to make sure he hadn't forgotten to tell me he was going out, but no one has seen him. Emma, you have to find him!" A hysterical Regina sobbed on the other end of the line.

Emma swallowed hard. She had forgotten to tell Regina about the impromptu road trip. Shit. She was in so much fucking trouble when she got home she could taste it. Her good mood deflated instantly.

"Um, I already know where Henry is, Regina." Emma's voice was weak.

"Oh thank god. Where are you? I checked the station, but you weren't there. Are you on patrol with Henry?"

"Uh, something like that?"

Regina paused for a moment. "Miss Swan, what aren't you telling me?"

"We're kind of in Johnson City?" Emma's voice rose at the end making everything a question.

"Why are you in Johnson City, Sheriff? And why didn't you tell me you were going?"

Oh shit, Sheriff. She was in more trouble than she thought.

"I forgot? And Henry got his report card today, and you know how hard the kid's been working in algebra, but he didn't get the grade he wanted and he was really upset so I decided to take him to get the Iron Man comic that the shop in Storybrooke didn't have to cheer him up. I'm really sorry Regina. I didn't mean to cause you to panic I just—my head wasn't screwed on right today, I guess." If Emma had been in front of the woman she would've been on her knees begging.

"Where are you now, Sheriff?" Regina's voice was cold metal.

Emma swallowed hard. "We just got out of the comic shop and we're walking to get something to eat?"

"You will be home within the hour. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes."

"Good, I will see you at home, Sheriff. Do _not_ keep me waiting."

The line went dead. Emma drew back the phone and stared at it. Henry looked over at her, worriedly.

"Kid, we have to get to the comic shop, like now." Emma started the Bug and floored it.

"What's wrong? That was Mom, wasn't it?"

"No, Henry, that was the Evil Queen. And when we get home I think she's going to kill me and resurrect me just to kill me again."

"You didn't tell her we were going, did you?"

"It slipped my mind?"

"You're in deep shit."

"Kid, that might be the understatement of the century."


	4. Chapter 4

Here have another. If you're not partial to smut basically stop reading when Regina pops up again and skip to the next line break. You won't miss anything plot wise really that won't be mentioned later. And as always reviews are always welcome, appreciated, and probably flailed over.

* * *

"_You didn't tell her we were going, did you?"_

"_It slipped my mind?"_

"_You're in deep shit."_

"_Kid, that might be the understatement of the century."_

They went to the comic store and made it home in less than forty-five minutes. Emma thanked every God known to man that there was almost nothing between Storybrooke and Johnson City. That meant no cops between here and there. And that meant Emma was free to break every single speed limit posted along the way. Which she had proceeded to do after a quick warning to Henry that if she ever caught him driving like she was that she would revoke his license on the spot.

Emma pulled up to the mansion and took a deep breath. "Kid, I just want you to know if I don't make it out that I love you."

"Ma, you're being overdramatic. She'll yell and make you sleep on the couch or something." Henry rolled his eyes.

"What ever happened to the kid who thought your mom was the absolute incarnation of evil?"

"You did. The amount of lectures I got was ridiculous."

"Fair point, but you know how she calls you by all of your names when she's mad and you fear for your life?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, that's how I feel when she calls me Sheriff."

"You realize you're only making it worse sitting here, right?"

"Probably."

Henry snorted and got out of the car.

Emma hesitated a second and then followed.

When they both walked in the house was quiet, almost eerily so. Emma gulped. She could deal with loud, mouthy Regina. That was normal. Quiet Regina…that was a different story.

"Kid, go up to your room for a while, ok?"

Henry looked at her. "Alright, but I'm starving, Ma."

Emma nodded. "I'm sure your Mom will feed you something soon. Don't be surprised if it's me on a plate trussed up like a pig with an apple in my mouth or something."

"Cool." Henry pounded up the stairs. A second later his door clicked shut.

Emma stepped out her boots and slowly put them in their assigned spot. She looked around, trying to figure out just where Regina was. She walked forward quietly, going from room to room, trying to find her girlfriend.

"Regina?" she called.

But the woman was nowhere to be found. Emma sighed. Where the hell was she? Emma stood alone in the study and scratched her head.

Arms wrapped around her middle from behind. "Hello, Sheriff," Regina purred into her ear. The door clicked shut behind her.

Emma jumped slightly. "Th-there you are, Regina."

"Mmm." Regina tightened her grip and pressed herself into Emma's back.

"Um, listen…" Emma trailed off at the feeling of Regina sweeping her hair aside and kissing up her neck. This was not the reaction she was expecting. She wasn't complaining. Not one single bit.

Regina's hands slid up her front and cupped her breasts, squeezing them gently. Emma's nipples instantly responded, hardening quickly.

"Regina—"

One hand left her breast and trailed down her side. Regina stepped back just enough to let her hand between them, caressing her lower back lightly.

Emma hummed her approval. Maybe Regina would just fuck out her anger. It had happened before. And it had been wonderful. Emma shut her eyes and leaned her head back on Regina's shoulder.

Regina took advantage of her more exposed neck, licking and sucking, leaving marks over the ones fading from two days before. Emma moaned. God, this was so much better than she had thought. Maybe she should make Regina this angry more often.

Regina's hands slid under her shirt and skirted across bare skin. Emma shivered. She was so very hot and Regina's hands felt like a cool breeze caressing her skin.

Emma needed to touch the brunette. She tried to turn, but Regina stopped her, locking Emma in place with her arms. Emma huffed her disapproval, but didn't fight.

Regina continued her assault, hands everywhere, mouth warm and hot on anything she could reach for a few more minutes. The combined feeling was overwhelming. Regina knew just where to touch her to drive her wild. God, she needed her right now.

"Please, Regina," she whined.

Regina chuckled and turned so her mouth was planted firmly on Emma's. The brunette dominated the kiss, with more teeth than tongue and lips. One extra firm nip drew blood. Regina lapped it up and Emma almost swooned.

Regina's hand slowly lowered to Emma's jeans, expertly opening them while her mouth was busy drawling inhuman noises from Emma. A hand slid inside, slipping easily below Emma's underwear and progressing to where Emma so desperately needed to be touched. Regina's nimble fingers parted Emma and stroked lightly a few times, purposely avoiding her clit. Emma groaned into Regina's mouth. She couldn't take being teased right now.

Regina pulled her mouth from Emma's. Emma flopped her head back fully onto Regina's shoulder, unable to support it anymore. Regina lowered her mouth to Emma's ear, breath tickling the fine hair there. Emma gasped at the feeling.

Regina's fingers trailed lower and slipped inside her. Emma moaned in satisfaction. The other woman started pumping in and out of her as much as Emma's tight jeans would allow. Emma bit her lip and turned more into Regina's neck.

"You think it is ok to just run off with our son, Sheriff?" Regina whispered in her ear.

"N-no," Emma gasped out.

"No, you don't get to talk right now."

Emma nodded weakly and swallowed. She couldn't stop herself from making little noises as Regina's fingers still pumped in and out of her.

"You scared me, Sheriff. I do not like surprises. Do you know what happens when I am surprised? Bad things, Sheriff. Like your punishment."

Regina corkscrewed her fingers. Emma whimpered. She was so close.

"Do you know what your punishment is?"

Regina nibbled on Emma's earlobe. Her fingers were driving in and out of Emma at a punishing pace. Emma could feel the muscles in her stomach tighten in preparation for the oncoming wave of pleasure.

Suddenly, Regina's fingers stilled inside her. Emma groaned loudly.

"You don't get any sex until I see fit, Sheriff." Regina slipped her fingers out of Emma and stepped back. "And if you even so much as _think_ about touching yourself, your punishment will only last longer."

Regina swept out of the study, leaving a dazed and extremely frustrated Emma in her wake.

This was so much worse than expected.

* * *

Emma knocked on Henry's door an hour later. "Kid, your Mom's done with dinner."

The door opened a second later. "So, I didn't hear any yelling and you're still alive and obviously not dinner. So, it wasn't that bad?"

Emma snorted. "The yelling would have been preferable, Kid. I can handle yelling. This was different. She wasn't yelling, but that made it worse."

"What'd she do? Are you on the couch for the next month or something?"

"Uh, no, kid. Trust me it's worse. And trust me, you don't want to know." Emma rubbed the back of her neck.

Henry's eyes widened. "Jesus, Ma."

"What?"

Henry looked at her. "You should have just told me you were banished to the couch or something."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." And Emma really didn't. Henry had made a jump from A to C while her brain wasn't even on B yet.

"You only say I don't want to know when it involves you and Mom _together_." Henry's face scrunched up in disgust.

Emma ran her hands over her face. Oh. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about Henry. But you were the one who was staving earlier. Go. Food. Dinner."

"Whatever, Ma. Just next time make something up, Jesus." Henry tromped down the stairs.

Emma groaned and followed her son.

The table was already set and the food laid out when they both got there. Regina emerged from the kitchen carrying their respective drinks. The brunette handed Emma a glass of wine before sitting at her normal spot. Emma sat down beside her and looked at the food at the table. Her head tilted towards the side.

"Uh, Regina…what in the world did you make?" Emma asked.

"Oh, yes, well I thought that as a family we might try to eat more healthy food. So I made chicken with wheatgrass purée and steamed asparagus and quinoa."

Emma and Henry made identical looks of disgust. None of that sounded like _anything_ they wanted to eat. Both of them stared at the serving dishes like they were about to crawl off the table under their own power.

"Well, go ahead, dig in." Regina smiled at both of them.

Emma turned towards Regina, eyes begging her to reconsider. A smirk ghosted across Regina's face. Oh god, it was going to be even _worse_ than no sex. It was going to be no sex _and _healthy food. Emma was going to die. And Regina would know if she went behind her back to get a cheeseburger at Granny's. She was going to _die_.

Emma reached out and grabbed the nearest bowl to her and pulled it towards her, nose crinkled. She needed to eat. There was no other source of food. And maybe if she played along with Regina's game she would get back their normal, still very healthy, but actually tasty and palatable food, sooner. That didn't mean she had to like playing along though.

She scooped some asparagus onto her plate, dropping them like they were some sort of disgustingly mutated being. God, she hated asparagus. Regina _knew_ that. Why, oh, why had she pushed the buttons of the most vindictive woman she knew? Was she stupid?

Emma looked over at Regina. Yeah, she was stupid. Stupid for the woman sitting beside her. She loved Regina too much to think straight most days.

She sighed and went for the platter of chicken, putting down a piece covered in what looked like radioactive waste. If she could get through years of foster moms' cooking she could get through this. No matter how unappealing the ingredients were themselves, Regina was still an amazing cook. It wasn't as bad as it could be.

Emma took a bite of her food reluctantly and winced slightly. The chicken was good. The wheatgrass? Not so much. She fought the urge to gag. Still she choked down the rest of it. Complaining would not get her anywhere right now.

The three of them ate the rest of their dinner, talking quietly about their days. The whole time Regina smirked lightly. Henry kept glaring at Emma through the meal. His look screamed 'this is all your fault.' Emma shot him back a look that said 'I know' and kept choking down her food.

* * *

Later Emma lay in bed, waiting for Regina to come out of the bathroom and slide in beside her. Her hands were behind her head and she stared at the ceiling. Well, first day of proposal planning hadn't gone too well. She sighed heavily. She really hoped that everything else went better. She wanted this to be perfect. So far it wasn't anywhere close.

The bathroom door opened and Regina padded to their bed. The brunette slipped under the covers and curled up completely on her side of the bed, turning her back to Emma. She barely even spared a glance at Emma.

Emma frowned. She couldn't sleep without Regina in her arms anymore. The warmth of the other woman comforted her in a way nothing else did. She scooted closer to Regina and laid a hand on Regina's arm.

"Regina…I know I said I was sorry earlier, and I know you can't do shit with sorry, but I really am sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry. I just—I still don't really know what to do with Henry sometimes. I just want everything to be perfect for him because he works so hard to get everything he wants and when he keeps being denied…I just don't know what to do. I just want to make sure he's happy and ok and that made me scatter brained today. I literally just did the first thing that came to mind and I wasn't even thinking of the consequences." Emma had the feeling she wasn't just talking about Henry right then. Everything she had said about him applied to the woman on the other side of the bed, as well.

She continued, "If I had been all there today I would have called you, for sure. Hell, I probably would have invited you along. I don't ever want to make you feel like you aren't part of a family, because Regina you are my family. So, I'm just really sorry. I just—this family makes me so happy and I want to do everything I can to make you both happy for the rest of our lives." Emma let out a heavy breath and scooted back from Regina.

Regina turned over and looked at her. A tan arm reached out and grabbed Emma stopping Emma's progress back to her side of the bed. Warm brown eyes met Emma's, open and honest with her like they were with no one else.

"You do make me happy, Emma. But the fact is you did make me feel like you were taking Henry and yourself away from me and making a break for it. It's going to take more than a very heartfelt and probably valid apology for me to forgive you for that. So my earlier words still stand."

Emma looked down but nodded. She understood in a way. Regina needed to feel like she was in control again and to do that Emma needed to learn a lesson, but she wished there was another way that Regina could think of than the one she'd come up with.

Regina surprised her back scooting even closer to Emma and snuggling into her arms. Emma's body lost all tension as Regina's body settled against hers. She never felt more safe than she did holding or being held by Regina.

Emma looked down at the smaller woman. Her perfect, beautiful, still slightly broken, sarcastic, bitchy, wonderful, loving girlfriend. She would do better for her. She would make things right again. And she would make this proposal perfect if it was the last thing she did.


	5. Chapter 5

Whoops, didn't want the gap between chapters to be so long, but college. But this is slightly longer, so enjoy and by all means review if you would like.

* * *

The next day Emma sat in front of her computer at the station, scrolling through various help wanted ads. She scowled. There were a few openings in town that were perfect for what she needed, but at the same time there was no way that Regina wouldn't find out about her second job if she worked in town. Then she would ask questions about why she needed a second job in the first place, and that would lead to either a fight if Emma tried to lie or Regina finding out about the proposal. Neither of those options were things that Emma wanted to happen.

She sighed and navigated away from Storybrooke's page on the employment agency's website and clicked on Johnson City. It was the only other practical option. And even Johnson City wasn't too practical. An hour and half travel time every day for a second job was going to suck. Even if she sped to and from work it was still going to eat a significant part of her day.

What was she going to tell Regina about all of this anyway? She was going to notice if Emma was away from the house every night. Emma groaned and flopped her head on the desk. This was so complicated.

She picked her head up again. She would worry about this when she actually got a job. There was no point in stressing over it now before it was even an issue. She had some time to come up with something that was plausible.

Her eyes started scanning the page in front of her for jobs that fit what she wanted. A couple bartender jobs popped up and more than a few waitress positions. Being a waitress was less preferable, less pay and usually suckier tips as well, unless it was an upper scale restaurant. Emma didn't exactly fit the profile of upper class restaurant waitress, not that there seemed to be any openings at a classier place anyway. She really hoped she'd get one of the bartending jobs. If she practiced and re-perfected her old skills she should be fine. She hoped.

She clicked on the profiles of the bars that needed bartenders and sent in her information. For now that was done. She'd call back in a couple days to check and see if they had gotten everything if they didn't call her first. Three years experience as a bartender and some acrobatic bartending skills put her ahead of a lot of people. It had the last few times she'd needed job.

Emma bit her lip. She was sure she still knew everything, but practicing definitely wouldn't hurt. She picked up the phone and dialed Ruby's number.

A few rings later Ruby answered. "Granny's Diner!"

"Hey, Rubes, I need a favor."

"Sure, Em, what's up?"

"Can you bring over a few empty liquor bottles and a set of shakers? Oh, and a grilled cheese? Please?"

"Sure, Em, but what do you need all of that for?"

"Bring everything to me and I'll tell you when you get here."

"Uh, ok. I'll be there after the lunch rush dies down, ok?"

"That's great, Rubes. Thanks so much. And the more bottles you can bring the better."

"Alright, Em, see you then."

Emma hung up the phone and smiled. Well, that was one thing taken care of, now there were just about fifteen billion things more to go before she could propose to Regina, but it was something. Emma leaned back in her chair and waited for Ruby to get there.

* * *

Three hours later Ruby walked in carrying a box of clinking bottles with a bag of takeout placed perfectly on top. The wolf set down the box on David's desk and handed Emma her bag of food. Emma smiled brightly and quickly unpacked her grilled cheese and bit into it. Ruby sat down in the chair across from her and crossed her legs, looking at Emma expectantly.

"So, the reason you need a whole case full of empty bottles and a shaker? Are you going to make some invisible cocktails, Em?" she asked playfully.

"Something like that, actually."

Ruby's brows drew together. "What?"

"I used to be a bartender back before I was a bounty hunter. Easy job to find no matter what town you were in, you know. Well, anyway, I learned how to juggle bottles and do all the fancy flipping and mixing stuff while I was at it. You get bigger tips." She shrugged. "But I haven't done it in a while and I wanted to practice."

"Just out of the blue?" Ruby shot her a disbelieving look.

"Well, no." Emma sighed. "I need a second job to save up for something and I was thinking of becoming a bartender again."

"What are you saving up for, Em?"

"I kinda, maybe, am saving up for an engagement ring for Regina."

Ruby squealed loudly. Emma covered her ears, dropping her grilled cheese on the desk. Ruby launched out of her chair and pulled Emma into a hug.

"Oh, it's about time! Em, I'm so happy for you!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Thanks, Rubes. But seriously, what is it with everyone saying it's about time. First the kid, now you. Is everyone going to say that when I tell them?"

"Probably. You guys have been head over heels with each other since like _forever_, Em."

"That's pretty much what the kid said, too." Emma sighed. "You realize you can't breathe a word of this to anyone, right? I don't want Regina to find out beforehand."

"Oh, of course. I won't tell a soul." Ruby mimed zipping up her lips and throwing away the key.

"Yeah, so that's why the bottles."

"You're going to blow them away. Most people around here barely know what's in a side car."

"Brandy, lemon juice, and whatever type of orange liqueur the house has."

"See, exactly."

Emma snorted. "Thanks for the confidence boost, Rubes. But seriously, later I'm going to need help planning everything and since you already know, I might ask for your help on some things."

"Of course! I'd love to help." Ruby smiled widely.

"Thanks, Rubes. You're probably going to save my life sometime during this whole thing, knowing me."

Ruby laughed. "Well, maybe, but I'm sure everything will be perfect in the end."

Emma nodded. "I hope."

"Anyway, I have to get back to the diner before Granny sends a search party after me. Call me if you need anything else, ok?"

"Sure, see you later Rubes."

Emma watched as Ruby turned and strode down the hallway. As the door closed behind her Emma turned to the box and stared. Well, now was a good a time as any. She walked over to the box and picked up a bottle and set to work.

* * *

Four hours later Emma had broken four bottles and was tossing a fifth around with fluid ease. It had taken a little longer than she expected to get her skills back, but it was worth it. Even if she was going to be finding pieces of glass around the station for months to come. It wasn't like anyone walked around barefoot anyway.

She flipped a bottle behind her back, caught it in the shaker, and set it down on her desk. That was enough practice for now. She could always work on multiple bottle stuff later. Her arms hurt from tossing around the half full bottle anyway. She was definitely going to have to work on her endurance again, but she had a few days. She'd be fine.

Emma flopped down in her desk chair and rolled over to her computer. There was no real work to do. No one had called in a few days. Pongo hadn't even escaped in the last week and Mrs. Adelaide's cat Duchess hadn't gotten stuck up a tree either. Hell, she had even caught up with all her paperwork last week after all of Regina's nagging. There was literally nothing to do for the next hour of work. She couldn't even play paper basketball since it would waste paper and screw Regina's budget over.

She sighed and hit the refresh button on her email and hoped something would show up. A new email popped up and Emma sat up straighter. She clicked on it and opened it up, quickly scanning it. A smile bloomed on her face and she bounced slightly up and down in her seat.

"Interview for bartending position" read the subject of the email. She didn't think she would get a response back so quickly. They had to be desperate for a bartender to be so prompt. That worked out excellently in her favor. Well, at least something was working out to plan.

Emma typed out a reply email quickly and sent it back off. They wanted to do the interview as soon as possible and that was just fine with Emma. She could do it tomorrow as long as she let Regina know she would be gone. She wasn't going pull another stunt like yesterday anytime soon, even if Henry wasn't going to be with her this time.

She paced the Sheriff's station, waiting for a reply. She tried to tell herself that just because they gotten back to her quickly the first time, they didn't have to be so quick the second time around, but that didn't stop her from wearing a track in the floor. If she started her job quickly enough she was sure to make the three month deadline for the ring. And if she was on track for that she could start planning everything else that needed to be done…when she actually figured out whatever else needed done. Emma ran her hands through her hair. She really needed to get on that.

Her computer binged after ten minutes of restless pacing. Emma was in the chair in an instant and clicking on the new email. The interview was a go for five the next day. Emma would need to get her father to cover the last hour of her shift, but that was easily accomplished. She felt like dancing around the room. None of her other job searches had gone this smoothly or this quickly before. Then again, after that fiasco with Regina she was due for some good luck. And after that whole saving a town from a curse thing…but that good luck was probably already used when she and Regina fell in love. Emma shrugged. Wherever it came from it was overdue.

David walked in a few minutes later for the late shift. Emma waved from her seat. David smiled at her and flopped in his own desk chair.

"How's it been?"

"Quieter than an abandoned graveyard. Seriously, it's been like three days since either of us chased Pongo. I'm beginning to think something is wrong." Emma laughed lightly.

David joined her. "Yeah, maybe, but it's not exactly like Storybrooke is a magnet for criminal activity anyway. Without Pongo and Duchess I don't think we would do anything."

"Don't forget Leroy."

"Ah, how could I forget my favorite dwarf?" David snorted. "But you forget, it's not a weekend."

"This is true, but that hasn't stopped him before."

"True, but that was before the mines reopened. Say what you want about the man, but he is a very hard worker."

"And sassy while doing it." Emma rolled her eyes and laughed. David joined in a second later.

When the laughter died down they sat in silence for a little while, while David got his stuff ready for his shift. Emma sat at her desk and cleaned her gun while she looked on. She hated cleaning the weapon, but she might as well get it out of the way while she had too much time on her hands.

"Hey, Dad?" Emma asked, piecing her gun back together.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you can come in like an hour and half early tomorrow?" Emma asked, looking at him with puppy dog eyes.

"Sure." He shrugged. "What's going on with you?"

"Well, yesterday I went to Johnson City to look at rings for Regina and I found the perfect one, but the catch was that it would take over two years for me to save for it. So I have to get a second job and I have an interview set up for tomorrow at five. So, I need you to cover for me."

David nodded. "Alright. Did you go with my advice about diamonds and hearts?"

Emma tried to hold in a snort but failed. "No, Dad. There are small diamonds on it, but they aren't the main stone and nothing is heart shaped. Actually the biggest stone is almost in the shape of a yin yang sign."

"Oh, well. That sounds good too."

Emma laughed. "It'll be perfect, as soon as I have the money for it anyway."

"I'm sure you'll have it in no time."

"Thanks, Dad." Emma stood up and grabbed her coat. The clock had just hit five. "But I'm going to go grab Regina and blow this joint. Have a good shift and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Emma."

Emma waved and headed up the stairs of Town Hall.

* * *

Emma walked into Bubba's the next day at five on the dot. She would rub it into Regina's face that she could be on time when she needed to be…except Regina couldn't know about this particular side trip she was on. Damn, it was such good ammo for the next fight they would inevitably have over her 'atrocious time keeping abilities,' too.

She walked up to the bar, looking around for anyone at all. The place was completely dead, but the door had been unlocked. Someone had to be around here somewhere. She shrugged and leaned against the bar. Eventually someone would turn up and talk to her. Until then she turned around and took in the rest of the place. It was your stereotypical small town hick bar, almost the same as any other bar she'd been in except for the added taxidermy scattered around the room. There were a few pool tables at various places and a wall of dartboards at the back. An old jukebox sat in the corner, looking beat up and well used. Booths and tables sat around a medium sized dance floor. And of course the place was dimly lit as all bars were; the brightest lights in the entire room were the neon signs that proclaimed what sort of alcohol was behind the bar. Emma smirked. Bars didn't change much no matter where you were.

A shuffling behind her alerted her to another person's presence. Emma turned around again in time to see a scruffy older man walk through a curtain off to the side of the bar. Emma pushed off of the bar and stood up straight. The man turned around and finally saw her. He looked her up and down once before walking towards her.

"You Swan?" he asked shortly.

"Yes, sir."

"No need for the sir. Name's Bubba. Don't got a record do ya?" He crossed his arms and leaned back on one leg.

"Nope." Not that he would ever know about anyway. Thank god for sealed juvie records.

He nodded. "Good. The computer said you worked at The Drunken Lady in Boston as your most recent bartendin' job."

Emma nodded. "Yes."

"Called the place. Said ya was a fine bartender and hard worker. Sad to see ya go. Weren't with them long. Said ya became a bounty hunter? What's a lady like you doin' bein' one of those?" Bubba uncrossed his arms and titled his head.

"I'm good at finding people, and it paid better than bartending. But I'm not a bounty hunter anymore. I'm Sheriff now over in Storybrooke."

"What're ya doin' here then?"

"I need some extra money, saving up for something. Being Sheriff isn't as lucrative as you'd think."

Bubba nodded. "Didn't think it would be. So ya aren't here for the long haul then?"

"Nope, just until I get enough money for what I need."

"Okay, fair enough. Just give me notice and that's fine with me. I got left in a rut by my last two bartenders. Just up and left, no notice or nothin' and within a few days of each other to boot. It's only been me the past few days. So, how about ya work with me tonight? Ya hold your own, the job is yours for as long as ya want it."

Emma smiled. "Sounds good to me."

"Good."

"Have any sort of dress code?"

Bubba laughed. "No, no. What you're in is good. No need to wear anythin' fancy for the people who come in here. They aren't hard to impress, little lady."

Emma scowled at the little lady, but nodded anyway. She stripped off her leather jacket and was left in her white tank top and jeans. She made her way behind the bar and started to get a feel for things.

"Ya can stow your jacket and whatever else ya have back in my office for your shifts." Bubba gestured at the curtained door way he'd come through earlier.

"'kay." Emma walked in quickly and threw her jacket on a coat rack she saw right inside.

She returned to the bar and continued getting the lay of things. "Any house specialties?"

"Nah, nothin' fancy here. I'll get you a list of prices of everythin' in a minute. It's pretty standard fair. Mostly you'll just be pouring beer and Jack."

Emma picked up a bottle of Jack and a tumbler. She spun the bottle around a few times before pouring a perfect shot and setting the bottle back down again. She turned to Bubba.

"Something like that?"

Bubba laughed once. "Somethin' like that. My regulars aren't going to know what hit 'em."

Emma smiled smugly. "Impressed people tip better."

"I bet they do, little lady, I bet they do." Bubba scrubbed the counter with a rag for a few minutes quietly. "The regulars will start tricklin' in at about 5:30. It won't get really busy until eight or nine though."

Emma nodded. That was standard on a weekday. "Bar's open every day except for Monday."

"Alright." Emma's face was scrunched trying to memorize exactly where everything was and what drinks she could make with the stock in front of her.

"Inventory is every first Monday, but seein' as you've already got a day job you don't have to be here."

"Thanks."

Bubba was right, they weren't really outfitted to make much in the way of mixed drinks, but Emma still had some leeway. She could make it work. She could still work her magic with the alcohol in front of her and get enough tips to get Regina the ring she deserved. Emma smiled.

Bubba disappeared and grabbed her a sheet with everything's price on it. Everything was pretty normally priced. Mixed drinks were six dollars, draft beer was three, bottled was more depending on the brand, shots depended on the alcohol. It was a list she'd seen a thousand times. She'd have it down by the end of the night. She slipped it within easy grabbing distance just in case, though.

Right on time the first of the regulars started to stroll in, greeting Bubba and taking in the new blonde working behind the bar with him. A few nodded at her, the rest ignored her. Bubba walked up to them and called out their orders to Emma. A minute later she sent several different glasses of various draft beers sliding down the counter to their respective orderers. The drinks stopped perfectly in front of the people they were meant for. Everyone glanced up at her, clearly impressed.

Emma shrugged. "Practice makes perfect."

"Seems like you got a good'un this time, Bubba," A man in a bright orange hunting cap said.

Bubba nodded. "So I've been findin' out."

"You don't know, she could vanish to Boston in two days like those other girls," the only woman in the group sniped. Her face was scrunched up like she had just smelled something foul.

"Now, now, Melinda, I don't think she's the type. Flighty college girls are one thing, I do believe Emma is another."

Emma blushed slightly. The man had known her for a grand total of half an hour and already he was praising her. Well, hopefully that meant she was keeping the job for sure.

Bubba stayed and talked to the first group of regulars while more people slowly trickled in. She poured their drinks with a little extra flair, but nothing overtly showy. Nonetheless everyone was impressed and she managed to get some decent tips without having to bat her eyes and shamelessly flirt with the men. Not that she wasn't prepared to do that to get Regina's ring, but it was better to save that for later on when the mixing tricks weren't working so well anymore.

All in all the night went well. She made more than enough to make up for the fact that she probably wasn't getting paid for her labor that night. Emma had to hand it to the people she was serving, they weren't the prettiest, but they were some of the most generous patrons she'd ever served. Then again it may have been just the novelty of the new girl loosening their wallets. She guessed she'd see as she kept on working.

Two in the morning finally came around and last call was announced. Not long after, the last of the stragglers left and Emma helped Bubba close down the bar. She scrubbed down the bar as the older man counted the night's profits. When he was done he shuffled back into his office to put the money in the safe. Bubba came out again holding a stack of paperwork. Emma smiled up at him brightly even though she was more than exhausted.

Bubba handed her the paperwork. "Have it filled out when you come back tomorrow. What time do you normally get off from bein' Sheriff?"

"Five," Emma answered, dropping the rag to take the papers.

Bubba nodded. "Fair enough, I think bein' Sheriff is a little more important than being a bar hand. I don't really need much help 'til around six anyway. That work better for ya?"

Emma sagged visibly in relief. She had no idea how to ask her father to come in an hour early everyday just so she could come to work here. That would be a huge favor and one Emma still wasn't wholly comfortably asking from her parents quite yet, even after three years.

"That would be great." Emma shook her head enthusiastically. If she was quick she could even grab something to go from Granny's on her way here. That was a hell of a lot better than grabbing a granola bar out of her glove compartment and shoving it into her face right before she walked in.

"Good, good. Off ya go then. I'll see ya tomorrow."

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me, little lady. Just do your work, that's all I ask."

"Of course." Emma smiled. "See you tomorrow, boss."

Bubba laughed once and turned to walk back into his office.

* * *

Emma once again sped home at almost supersonic speeds. A smile was plastered on her face. She had gotten a job within a day. She had a hundred bucks in her pocket that she could throw in her saving account tomorrow to go towards Regina's ring. She was one step closer making this proposal perfect.

Hopefully, Regina hadn't waited up for her. She had told the other woman that she was going to be out later, but she hadn't exactly thought she would be out this late. An interview for a job didn't usually mean out until past two in the morning. Emma swallowed. She hoped Henry had covered for her somehow. Probably not, but she could hope.

When she pulled up to the mansion it was just before a quarter to three. Emma groaned. She had to be up in five hours. These next few months were going to be killer.

She walked inside, kicked off her boots, and stowed her jacket in the closet automatically. Regina's initial training from early in their relationship had stuck quite well. Emma tip toed into the house quietly. She made a quick detour to the kitchen and shoved a piece of cold lasagna in her face. She had been starving through her whole shift and even cold, Regina's cooking was the best thing she'd ever eaten.

The house was quiet as she sat there chewing. Emma sighed in relief. At least that meant that Regina was asleep. She would probably get some sort of chastising about not letting Regina know that she was going to be out _this_ late, but nothing horrible. Regina wouldn't be awake enough to muster anything more. She groaned softly, but her punishment from taking Henry to Johnson City with her was probably going to be extended even further. She was _really_ going to have to make this proposal perfect to make up for everything.

Dishes from her lasagna raid laid in the sink, she made her way softly upstairs. She opened the door to their room to see Regina asleep with her bedside light on, book lying on her chest, and reading glasses hanging on the tip of her nose. Emma's heart melted at the sight. She padded across the room and slipped the glasses off Regina's nose and set them on the nightstand. She picked up the book, marked her place, and set it beside the glasses.

"Regina, baby, lay down. I'm home, ok?" Emma whispered and kissed Regina's forehead.

"Mmm, Emma?" Regina murmured but her eyes stayed shut.

"Yeah, baby."

"Don't call me, baby." Regina's face scrunched.

"Alright, Regina. But go to bed, 'kay? I'll be back in a second. I'm going to go take a shower, 'kay?"

"Why were you out so late?"

"I went out with Ruby. I didn't see how late it was getting. I'm sorry, Regina."

"Just come to bed soon. Hard to sleep without you here."

Emma smiled softly at the woman. "Alright, just let me take a shower and I'll be right in."

"Good." Regina turned over and snuggled further into the mattress.

Emma flipped off the light and gathered the stuff she needed in the dark. She slipped into the bathroom and took a quick shower. She'd need to tell Ruby tomorrow that they had 'gone out' last night. And somehow she'd have to come up with an excuse as to why she was going to be gone six nights out of seven. But that was a problem for the morning. Right now she had a beautiful woman waiting for her in bed and that was what really mattered in all of this.

She dried her hair quickly and slipped into a new tank top and a pair boy shorts. She switched off the light and walked into the dark room. Emma found her way by memory and slid into bed. Regina was curled around her in an instant. Emma sighed and snuggled further into the other woman.

"Night Regina."

"Mmm, night, darling."

Emma smiled and drifted off a few minutes later.


	6. Chapter 6

Emma woke up the next morning wrapped in warm arms. She sighed and nuzzled further into her pillow. The alarm hadn't gone off yet and she was going to take full advantage of whatever time she had left. Her body was still weighed down with exhaustion. She wasn't as young as she used to be, she used to be able to run on five hours sleep with no problem. Now, that was not the case. Better to stay in Regina's arms for as long as possible.

The alarm went off and she groaned loudly. A soft chuckle sounded behind Emma as the arms around her squeezed her tighter. She scooted back even further into Regina.

"Mornings never were your strong suit, darling. Your little foray last night with Ruby compounds your problem." Regina's voice managed to be chiding, amused, and warm all at the same time.

Emma groaned again. "I refuse to believe it's morning." She snuggled into the blankets, grabbing Regina's hands and pulling the other woman along with her.

"Denial won't get you anywhere, dear." Regina pulled her hands free of Emma and slipped out of bed. "I'll get the coffee going and once you've had a chance to get enough caffeine in you to function properly you'll tell me just what you got up to with Ruby last night."

Emma pulled the covers over her head. "Not even the promise of coffee is enough to make me move right now."

A second later the covers were suddenly gone, faint wisps of purple clouding the air. Regina had poofed away the covers. Emma opened her eyes and shot Regina a dirty look.

"Regina, that's not even fair," she whined.

"No, Miss Swan, I don't think it was supposed to be." Regina grabbed her robe and slipped it on, tying it in one fluid motion.

"Five more minutes would have killed you?"

Regina smirked. "Of course not, but Storybrooke needs its illustrious Sherriff. And the sooner you get up the sooner the town will have you once again instead of a glorified shepherd."

"Regina." She drew out the last syllable, pout firmly plastered on her face.

"Coffee will be ready soon." Regina started to walk out of the room. "And remember, Miss Swan, I did raise Henry for ten years on my own. I know that pout and I am immune to it."

Emma could hear Regina chuckling as she walked down the hall. She flopped down into her pillow and groaned once again. It wasn't fair that she was going to marry a morning person. All she wanted was one morning of sleepy cuddling while they ignored the alarm and damned the consequences. Instead, she got the bright eyed and bushytailed mayor. Emma sighed, slight smile passing over her face. But as long as it was Regina, even being a morning person could be forgiven.

She sat up finally, stretching luxuriously. She still had to come up with a reason that she was going to be gone tonight and pretty much every other night and she had to come up with a plausible story for what she and Ruby had done last night, too. Her hands came up to rub her eyes in an attempt to jump start her sleepy brain. The Ruby thing she could handle, she just had to take some of her other Ruby drinking stories and change a few details. She and Ruby were pretty consistent when they went out anymore, they went down the Rabbit Hole, had a drink or two, talked about whatever crossed their minds, Ruby would always make at least a few jokes about Emma being completely whipped, throw in a few innuendos and a lot of laughing and that was about the whole thing.

But why she would be gone so often? That was a different matter. One that she had to come up with a solution to quickly. It was a little more than her exhausted brain could handle at the moment. She got up and slipped on her own robe slowly. Maybe coffee would help her think better. She sighed. Her lack of forethought was sometimes a pain in her own ass.

She trudged downstairs. The smell of coffee hit her full in the face as she hit the last step, waking her up just a little bit. Emma walked into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Regina from behind.

"Morning." She kissed Regina's neck, staying a second longer than necessary to inhale the woman's scent.

Regina hummed, content. "Coffee will be done in a minute."

"Good."

Regina chuckled again. "Sometimes I really wonder who's the teenager, you or Henry. You certainly have the right sleeping schedule, unlike our son."

"You don't complain when I'm keeping you up all night," Emma said right by Regina's ear.

A slight shiver passed through Regina. "And also the sex drive of a teenage boy," she added.

"Like I said, you don't complain. And you can't say much there. I mean really. Closets. Need I say more?"

"I suppose not." The corners of Regina's mouth twitched up. She turned and kissed Emma lightly before turning back to the eggs in the pan in front of her. "It's not my fault the savior happens to be quite stunning."

Emma smiled and snorted. "Well, the savior has nothing on the Evil Queen." She hugged Regina once more, stepping back as the coffee pot dinged. She grabbed two mugs from the cupboard and poured them both a cup. She stirred in just the right amount of sugar for Regina before handing the mug over. She took her own and blew on it for a few seconds before taking a sip, bitter warmth suffusing her being and waking her up just a little more.

They stood in silence for a few moments, sipping coffee as Regina finished up their breakfast. Regina slid their eggs onto two separate plates, walking over to the bar and perching on one of the stools, obviously waiting for Emma to sit on the stool beside her. Emma obliged, grabbing her plate and sitting beside the other woman.

"So what did you and Ruby get up to last night?" Regina asked, carefully peeling back the top of one of the yolks so she could dip her toast in the golden liquid below.

"The usual. Laughing at a wasted Leroy trying to play pool, talking about what's going on in the diner and all of the gossip that she's heard this week, her normal questions about how good you are in bed, you know, a normal night out."

Regina snorted. "Sounds like it."

A little light bulb went off over Emma's head. She had an idea. "Speaking of being out late, before I went out with Ruby I stayed a little after work to finish up some paperwork and David and I got to talking. He wants to switch to day shift for a little while so he can spend more time with Snow. As it is now their schedules sort of conflict. I told him that I'd switch with him for a while."

Regina's face scrunched. "How long are you switching for."

"Three months or so." Emma rubbed the back of her neck. It was clear that Regina wasn't exactly loving this idea right off the bat, but it was the best idea Emma had to explain everything. "I figure in that three months I can find some more volunteer deputies to cover more than just the weekends so David can be on days more."

"I wish I had been consulted on this before you agreed." Regina's words were clipped.

Emma swallowed and looked at the counter sheepishly. "Sorry, but I figured I sort of owed him, you know? I mean, I'm the one who stuck him on nights in the first place. Plus, he is my Dad and everything so."

Regina looked over at her, eyes full of conflicting emotions. "I see where you're coming from, but we're supposed to be a team and that means making decisions like this together."

"Yeah…I'm still sort of bad at that, aren't I?" Emma sighed. God damn she really had to make this proposal stellar to make up for this. "I really am sorry, Regina."

"I'll barely get to see you," Regina added in a smaller voice.

"I know. I'll get on that deputy thing right away and maybe it won't be three months. I'm not really a fan of barely getting to see you either.

Regina picked up her plate, still filled with half eaten food, and walked over to the trash can, sliding the remains of her breakfast into the container. "I'd allot the department more money so you could just hire someone if I could."

"I know that, Regina. But still, it shouldn't be that hard to find three or four willing volunteers. And training them doesn't take that long, especially if they've been in the military before. And it really seems like everyone was in the military at some point. Your land was sort of hardcore."

Regina snorted. "I suppose compared to this one it was."

"It won't be that bad. We can still have breakfast together at least."

"But you won't be sleeping beside me. I'm not sure I'll be able to get any real rest."

Shit. Emma hadn't thought of that. She could crash at Snow's no problem once she explained the situation to her mother, but sleeping without Regina at her side would be the worst form of torture. She wasn't sure it was possible for her to fall asleep without the faint scent of honeysuckle and Regina's warmth surrounding her.

"Yeah, me either." Emma ran a hand through her hair. "I really don't think these things through."

"No, darling, that you don't, not if you're helping someone."

Emma frowned. "Yeah, but a promise is a promise now I guess."

Regina nodded. "I suppose it is, but expect there to be a list of potential candidates on your desk by the end of the day. I'm sure a few members of my personal guard would do quite nicely."

Emma snorted. "We'll see about that. Those guys only listen to you."

"You're of my house, they'll obey you. Well not officially, but it's official enough that they will listen to you."

"Of your house?" Emma tilted her head to the side.

"Married to me in this case, dear. A house is like your family name. Like we would be House Mills."

Emma cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, I take your name, do I?"

"Henry and I are already Mills, it would make the most sense for you to take our name as well."

Emma thought it out of a second. "Swan-Mills."

Regina turned towards Emma and pursed her lips. "Mills-Swan."

"Doesn't flow as well. Plus you're supposed to save the best for last." Emma smiled at her own cheesy line.

"Or you could just take the name Mills and there would be no need to save the best for last."

"Swan was the name I picked myself. It's the one thing that's been solely mine my whole life. I'm a little reluctant to part with it fully, you know. But it would be my honor to add to it, especially your name because that's important to me as well."

Regina walked back towards Emma. "I suppose." She cupped Emma's face gently, smiling down at the younger woman. "We'll talk about this more when it's fully relevant." Regina bent down and kissed Emma gently and sweetly, conveying more emotions than Regina had let on.

Emma smiled into the kiss. That discussion would be relevant again sooner rather than later. It took all she had not to start squirming on her stool in anticipation.

The two of them pulled apart after a long moment.

"Ok," Emma said, slightly breathless.

Regina nodded once. "Good, and now it's time for us to go to work."

"Actually I'm starting tonight, but I've got to go in anyway and finish the paperwork to make the switch official. After all, my boss is a real stickler for paperwork."

Regina rolled her eyes. "For good reasons. Otherwise we might spend the town's yearly budget in a week again."

Emma laughed. "I'm not exactly sure how not filing paperwork about what shit David and I are working would lead to that, but whatever you say, your highness."

"It's your majesty dear, as I'm a Queen. You would be addressed as your highness."

Emma just stared at Regina, eyebrow cocked.

Regina huffed. "Just because we aren't in the Enchanted Forest doesn't mean that I'll take a downgrade on my status, even from you, my dear."

Emma laughed and rolled her eyes. "Of course, your majesty. Whatever was I thinking?"

Regina glared. "Come, let me drive you in then."

Emma slapped her hands over her heart dramatically. "You? Letting me in your Benz? The world must be ending."

Regina slapped her lightly. "Go, Miss Swan, before I change my mind."

Emma laughed and walked out of the kitchen.

* * *

As soon as she got to the station she grabbed her father and hauled him into her office.

"Emma, what's going on?" David asked, stumbling after her.

"You know how you wanted switched to day shift?" Emma flopped down into her chair and propped her feet up on the desk.

"Well, yeah, but you said we didn't have the budget to hire anyone else. Why?" David scratched at the back of his neck.

"We might not have the budget to _hire_ someone, but we're going to recruit some more volunteer deputies so we can get you off night shift at least some of the time. And when I say we are going to recruit new deputies, I really do mean we. Because for all intents and purposes you're now working day shift and I'm working nights as a favor to you, at least that's what's going on record. I got a second job to help pay for Regina's ring and I need a cover for why I'll be gone almost every night."

"Ok?" David's face scrunched and his head tilted to the side, trying to connect the dots.

"Yeah, so you sort of have to cover for me if Regina asks…and maybe take paperwork over to her office. I'll have it done at the end of my shift so it should be all good. I just really need everything to work out, you know?" Emma looked at David hopefully. "So will you help?"

"Of course, baby girl, I'll help you with whatever you need. I know this proposal means a lot to you and I'll help in whatever way possible to make it special for the both of you." David smiled warmly.

Emma smiled back, debating on whether she should get up and hug her father. She settled instead on just continuing to smile. There would be time for hugs later when all of this actually worked out.

"Thanks, Dad. Go home, get some sleep. Both of us are probably going to need it for the next couple of months." Emma groaned at the thought of all the sleep she was going to lose. So totally worth it, but that didn't mean she enjoyed being a zombie.

David's smiled shifted into something distinctly fatherly. "If you need help with paperwork or anything, or just need a nap in the middle of the day, I'm just a call away, you know."

"I do." And strangely enough she believed that he would come when she called, too. Strange what three years with a family had done to her. She actually trusted people now. Warmth suffused her being. It truly was a nice feeling.

"Now go, you aren't getting any sleep sitting here staring at me." Emma made a shooing motion with her hands. "I'm sure Mom is wondering where you are for breakfast. Oh, could you tell her to call me on her lunch break? I need to talk to her about some other stuff for the proposal. Actually, I need to tell her period."

David nodded. "Sure." He stood and walked out the door. "I'll see you later, baby girl."

"Bye Dad."

Emma bit the inside of her lip for a few seconds. So far so good. The corners of her mouth drew up as she reached for one of the incident reports she had put aside the day before half finished. She set to work still smiling.

* * *

A few hours later Emma's cell phone rang just as she was putting the finishing touches on her paperwork for the job at Bubba's. Emma threw down her pen and scrabbled around for the phone without looking up from proof reading the papers in front of her. She absentmindedly swiped the screen with her thumb and brought the phone to her face.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Hey, Emma," Snow said cheerily.

"Hi Mom." Emma stopped proof reading and pushed the papers away from her for now.

"Charming said you wanted me to call on my lunch hour?"

Emma looked at the clock on the wall to make sure that that much time had actually passed. It had. Apparently time had gotten away from her while she was working.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry. I didn't realize that it was actually that late."

"Busy day?"

"Yeah, sort of. Mostly just a lot of paperwork, you know?"

"Ah."

Emma shook her head. "Anyway, did Dad tell you about my plans for Regina?"

"No, what's going on?"

Emma cocked an eyebrow. She had been sure that the first thing David would do after finding out that she was planning to propose to Regina would be to tell Snow. Then again, he wasn't the one with the history of tattling.

"I'm-uh-I'm going to propose to Regina soon. I kinda need help sorting everything out though."

"Oh, Honey, I'd love to help."

Some part of Snow was probably internally screaming at the thought of her little girl marrying the Evil Queen, but she sounded genuine enough to put a smile on Emma's face.

"Thanks, Mom. Dad, Henry, and Ruby have been helping me with some of the preliminary stuff, but there's still a lot more to do, you know. I really want it to be the best."

"I think we can handle that. Do you have anything in mind at all?"

Emma rubbed at the back of her neck. "Not really? I mean I picked out the ring and I got another job just so I could save up for the ring, but other than that I have no earthly clue. Kinda why I've been asking for help. Oh, also if Regina asks, I now work nights at the station instead of Dad. I needed a cover story for why I'll be out. Which reminds me, can I crash at your place for a few months? I can't come home in the middle of the night to sleep since Regina thinks I'm on night shift."

"Sure, Honey, you can sleep in your old bed. It's no problem."

"Thanks. I'll be seeing even more of you than normal." Emma laughed. "I suppose that means we'll have ample time to plan everything down to a T won't we?"

Emma could practically hear the dreamy smile in Snow's voice as she replied. "Yes, we will. Oh, my little girl finally getting married. It's a dream come true."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Mom. I have to get back to filling out the paperwork for my new job, but I'll see you tomorrow morning. I'm sure you'll have five million suggestions, won't you?"

Snow laughed. "Oh, you can bet on it."

"Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" Emma said drawing the phone away from her ear already.

"Sure Emma. Have a nice day."

"You too, Mom."

She hung up the phone and stared at it for a second. She wondered just exactly what she was getting herself into. Snow would probably suggest something ridiculously cutesy and slightly vomit inducing and totally not Regina worthy. But she was what Emma had. She bit her lip. Maybe if she convinced Snow and Ruby to work together they would balance each other out. Snow would balance the risqué qualities of Ruby and Ruby would tone down the disgustingly cute. It just might be crazy enough to work. Then again it might just be crazy.

She put down her phone, sighed, and set back to work proofreading her papers.


	7. Chapter 7

Back again with another update for you lovely people. It's time to play spot how many Disney references and characters and puns I could pack into one chapter. Because if you're writing a Once story why not have fun with it? Anyway, read and enjoy, review if you'd like.

* * *

The next couple of weeks passed in a blur of paperwork, patrols, various juggling acts, and enough alcohol to drown even the most tolerant alcoholic. Emma was no stranger to working two jobs; she had had to work two jobs just to get by for a long while after she had gotten out of prison, but she couldn't recall being so exhausted day in and day out. Emma balked at the thought that she was getting older and therefore less able to deal with such stress. Surely it was just because now she had family and friends to deal with as well. It had nothing to do with her age. Denial was also more than a river in Africa.

She dropped her head down onto her desk and groaned. Just three more days until her fourth Monday off. Eight more until this whole thing was over. She could make it. She had to.

Despite being more tired than she ever could recall, she couldn't ever remember being as content either. She was going to spend the rest of her life with the woman she loved. They were going to be a family with Henry. And everything was working out to make it so. She was getting enough tips to make sure that she got Regina's ring on time. She had managed to get Snow and Ruby to work together to help her plan the proposal, and while nothing definite had come from it she was sure something had to give.

Emma had been sure that Ruby and Snow would tone each other down, but that wasn't the case. They played off each other and made the suggestions the other made ten times worse it seemed. If she heard about how she should get a bluebird to deliver the ring to her right before she proposed one more time she was going to scream. She couldn't believe when Ruby had nodded along with that suggestion as if it was the best idea in the world. Emma didn't even want to _think_ about what it meant that Snow had said Ruby's ball gag and handcuff idea was a good idea. Nor about the blush that both woman had worn at that particular lunch when she had stupidly asked why her mother even knew about such things.

Nope. Not going to think about it. But Snow and Ruby had spent a lot of time alone in the woods… God, no, her brain did _not_ need to go there. A shiver of disgust ran through her.

Even the uber-healthy food that Regina had been shoving down her throat at breakfast as pay back for the Johnson City incident had morphed back into their normal breakfast fair. Emma swore if she ever saw anymore fucking wheatgrass she was going to vomit. Maybe she'd even throw up if she saw that putrid shade of green again. How Regina had choked it all down with a smile she had no idea. Maybe vengeance made it taste sweeter. It wouldn't surprise her.

She sighed heavily. There was only one thing that hadn't been going smoothly. While the disappearance of the superfoods from their diet signified that Emma was probably forgiven for her transgressions, there had been absolutely no time to cash in on the other benefits besides edible food. It had been three weeks since she and Regina had had sex. It was the longest Emma had went without since she and Regina had gotten together three years ago, and it was driving her up a wall. Combined with the fact that she'd had no time to take care of herself and also the slight fear that she was still under orders not to, her body was weeping like a four year old whose ice cream had dropped on the ground. It was getting to the point where she was debating on selling her soul just for a _kiss_ from Regina.

She just missed Regina period, really. Spending time together at breakfast wasn't nearly enough after spending almost every waking moment with the woman for the last three years, save the hours they were at work, and sometimes not even then. There had been more than one afternoon where she had found and excuse to do paperwork in Regina's office and vice versa. It was sweet torture not seeing her.

Emma pursed her lips. Maybe there was an idea in there somewhere. She glanced at the clock. It was almost lunch time. If she hurried she could go grab lunch from Granny's for the two of them and waylay any other plans Regina might have had for lunch.

Her keys were in her hands and she was walking out the door before she had really made a conscious decision.

A few minutes later she walked into Granny's and walked up to the counter. Ruby smiled at her and flounced over to her.

"What's up, Emma? You want your usual?"

She nodded. "And Regina's normal Caesar salad, too."

Ruby tilted her head. "You're going to see her? But she thinks you're supposed to be asleep right now.

"And why couldn't I have just set the alarm so I could bring her lunch? Ruby, I miss her. I'm pretty damn sure she misses me, too. I don't think she'll question it as long as I'm not there every day." Emma shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess." Ruby walked to the window and yelled back the order to Gaston before returning to Emma. "Anyway, Snow and I were talking again and—"

"Ruby, I swear to god if you say something ridiculous like suggest bluebird themed lingerie I will seriously just kidnap Regina and elope and then I won't have to hear anything crazy ever again."

Ruby shot her a surprised look before looking down and scrubbing an already clean section of counter with a nearby rag. "What? It was sexy at the time, ok?" she mumbled.

"Rubes, I'm starting to worry about you." Emma looked at her levelly.

"Shut up, it's not like you and Regina haven't done some rather questionable things in the bedroom." Ruby flipped the end of the rag at her.

"At least I can honestly say we don't involve bluebirds." Emma cocked an eyebrow, looking for all the world like Regina for an instant. She sighed. "Got any other suggestions Ruby?"

"Well, I mean Snow and I have definitely talked and we think it has to be more than dinner, you know?"

Emma nodded along. They went to dinner all the time. This had to be special. It had to have something to make it pop.

"We're kinda stuck as to what, though. We have been compiling a list of dinner places though, and we did go through and cross off the ones you go to all the time. So, at least there's been some progress."

"Ruby, it took three of us three weeks to arrive to the decision that dinner was an absolute must and that was only after I shot down plenty of other rather _interesting_ suggestions. Sweet Jesus, Ruby, skydiving while proposing?"

"What? It'd be memorable."

"Except that I'd rather live through my proposal."

Ruby shrugged. "I'll get you the list later. Though, I really think you should go to Lumiere's place. I know you said you hate French food, but seriously. It's the swankiest place around."

"I'll think about it."

"Order up!" Gaston shouted.

Ruby turned and grabbed Emma's food and handed it to her. "Well think fast, reservations in that place take forever to get. I can pull a few strings, bribe Lumiere with some culinary favors or something, but still, the sooner the better."

Emma nodded and handed Ruby money for the food. "Thanks, Rubes. I'll see you later." She hurried out the door and scurried towards town hall and Regina.

* * *

Emma walked up the familiar wooden stairs of town hall five minutes later. She emerged into the open and airy hall at the top, marble amplifying the sound of her boots against the floor. She strolled to the end of the hall, shooting a smile at Regina's secretary, Marie. The girl nodded back to Emma, face impassive.

"Is she busy?" Emma asked, coming to a stop right in front of Marie's desk.

"Hmm," the girl almost sounded like she was purring. "She shouldn't be, but best to check." Her slight French accent seemed very out of place in small town Maine. She stood from her chair, grabbed a few files and walked into Regina's office with enough feline grace to rival even Regina.

Marie emerged a minute later, nodding. "She's finishing up a call, but she said you could come in."

Emma nodded. "Thanks."

She walked into Regina's office. Regina looked up from her desk, smiling brightly at Emma. Emma returned the smile and walked over to the conference table, nudging aside the ever present bowl of apples so she could set down the bag with their lunch. She went to work putting out their respective meals as Regina continued to snark at whatever poor, unfortunate soul was on the other end of the line.

"No, the town ordinance that cut taxes on the fishing industry in Storybrooke does not apply to you." A pause. "I do not care that you used to be a fish back in the Enchanted Forest. The tax cut applies to the fishing industry because it is a vital part of Storybrooke's economy and therefore needs to be supported in some way. You, however, are not a vital part of the economy, Mr. Flet. You barely pay your taxes and you keep trying to skirt even that responsibility. I grow tired of your constant attempts to find tax loopholes. Perhaps if you used the time you spend combing the town tax code for something useful you might actually have a job worth keeping."

Emma smiled. She loved Regina's sass when it wasn't directed at her. That was a lie. She loved Regina's sass whether it was directed at her or not. She just enjoyed it so much more when she could just sit back and watch another person flounder for come backs.

Regina slammed down the phone a few seconds later. She huffed loudly and rolled her eyes. "The nerve of some people."

Emma laughed. "If it makes you feel better I could always write him a ticket for his god awful lawn ornaments and say they're litter."

The sides of Regina's mouth pulled up slightly. "That won't be necessary, Miss Swan. I am more than capable of handling Mr. Flet on my own. He, after all, has the brain of a fish."

"Do I want to know what story he's from?"

"You have a particular fondness for that one. I wouldn't want to ruin it for you."

Emma cocked her head and thought for a minute. A story about fish that she liked?

"No, no way, that asshole is Flounder."

"Indeed."

Emma groaned. "I'm never watching a Disney movie again."

"Some of the newer ones are safe, darling."

"But those aren't the classics," Emma whined.

Regina walked over and wrapped her arms around Emma's waist. "The classics are horribly overrated. I do not, nor have I ever, had eyebrows that ridiculous. And that outfit is quite matronly compared to what I did wear."

Emma smirked. "You can say that again." She leaned forward and kissed Regina's forehead. "And I quite like your eyebrows the way they are."

Regina hummed, leaning her forehead against Emma's. "So dear, you agree with me that the classics aren't always the best."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Ok, so Brave was cute. And since there aren't any red headed Scottish people running around I assume that one is safe."

Regina nodded minutely. "And the Princess and the Frog and Pocahontas. Also Frozen, because while Arendelle did actually exist not far from the Enchanted Forest they were not brought over with the curse. Pixar movies are usually a safe bet. Your Disney repertoire for movie weekend will be fine, darling."

"You say that, but soon enough there's going to be a talking snowman on our front porch and then what will I watch?"

Regina cocked an eyebrow. "I could think of a few things…though they aren't quite as family friendly."

Emma head-butted Regina gently. "Movie weekends generally involve Henry. We don't want to scar the kid. No child needs to know his mother is _that_ flexible."

Regina chuckled. "I suppose not." She reached out and tucked a strand of Emma's hair behind her ear. "I left you to sleep barely four hours ago. What are you doing up? I don't want you falling asleep in the middle of a patrol."

"I'll be fine Regina, promise. I just missed you and wanted to see you. Lunch sounded like a good idea." Emma gestured to the table beside them.

Regina leaned forward and kissed Emma lightly. "Well, I suppose I can't complain." She took a step back and turned to the chair in front of her salad. "I missed you too, Emma."

Emma smiled warmly, taking her own seat. "Aw, the Evil Queen's going all soft on me."

Regina shot Emma a glare. "Don't push your luck, Miss Swan. Bribery with food and company will only get you so far."

"Well, what food and company won't get me, chocolate will. The special dark kind of chocolate with chili powder in it that you love so much, to be exact."

Regina licked her lips subconsciously. "That will buy you some more leeway, but I'd still watch your step, Emma."

Emma tossed a fry at Regina. "I'm quaking in my boots, Madam Mayor."

Regina picked up the offending piece of food and tossed it in the empty Granny's bag in front of her. She sighed and glared at Emma. "A child, my girlfriend is a child." She speared a couple leaves of lettuce and brought them to her mouth.

"You secretly love it." Emma shoved a mouthful of fries into her mouth and smiled at Regina to make a point.

Regina rolled her eyes and went back to her salad.

The meal went on companionably. They talked about their day, how the search for the new volunteer deputies was going, and whatever else came to mind. Emma was dying to tell Regina about the atrocious bluebird lingerie suggestion, but managed to hold her tongue. She didn't want to have to explain why that had come up. It would be a stretch to pass that off as normal conversation even if she had been talking to Ruby. She would tell Regina after the proposal. It would probably make an even funnier story then.

Emma smiled. She could imagine the sass now. And the ring on Regina's finger as she took Ruby's questionable taste in attire to town. Yes, it would be worth the wait.

They stood up after they finished, cleaning up the remains of their meal together. Emma walked the Granny's bag over to the trash while Regina walked over to her desk, flipping through a few papers, crease between her eyebrows forming and making her even more adorable than normal. Emma walked over and hugged Regina from behind.

"You know, you're even cuter than normal when you're concentrating really hard," she whispered into Regina's ear.

Regina hummed. "Oh, really dear?"

"Yup." She kissed below Regina's ear. Suddenly, the need to have Regina right then and there was overwhelming.

She glanced over at the clock on Regina's wall. There was still plenty of time before Regina's lunch hour was officially over. She started to kiss down Regina's neck, swirling her tongue in just the right way to drive Regina mad. Regina's head titled to allow Emma more access to the skin there. A breathy sigh escaped the older woman as the papers she was holding floated back down to her desk.

Once Emma reached the collar of Regina's shirt she grabbed the other woman's waist and turned her, claiming plump red lips as their fronts collided then melded together. Regina's arms came to rest around her neck. Emma's hands wandered down to Regina's ass, squeezing through the tight pencil skirt. The moan Regina released into Emma's mouth was delicious. Tan hands tangled in blonde hair, tugging lightly. Emma hummed her approval while exploring Regina's mouth. She had almost forgotten just how good really kissing Regina felt.

One of Emma's hands slid to the zipper at the side of Regina's skirt. She flicked the little piece of metal back and forth a few times before slowly inching it down. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her wrist. Emma pulled back, surprised. She looked at Regina, head cocked to the side, questioning.

"What's wrong?" she asked the other woman, panting slightly.

Regina swallowed visibly before replying. "I said there would be no sex until I said so."

"But—I thought—you stopped with the god awful food?" Emma stammered out.

"You thought just because I stopped making you drink wheatgrass smoothies I'd forgiven you?"

"Well, yeah."

Regina sighed and stepped out of Emma's arms. "Not quite, Miss Swan."

"But then why the kissing?" Emma couldn't quite wrap her head around it in this state. She had been so close to feeling Regina's skin she could cry.

"Because I'm only human, Miss Swan." Regina shrugged slightly.

Emma sighed. "Regina, it's been three weeks and I've apologized a million times. I don't know what else to do to make you forgive me."

"I'm working on it, Emma. But you and I both know forgiveness isn't exactly my strong suit. Stopping the parade of rather questionable health food was a step towards forgiveness. But until I've completely forgiven you I don't think I can…" Regina trailed off and wrung her hands.

A light bulb went off over Emma's head. "It's not so much about punishment now as it is about fear that I'll suddenly see you as the Evil Queen, turn tail and run and leave you hurt, alone, and broken. Getting attached to me again would just hurt you more."

Regina nodded. "Punishment would've ended with the stop of those horrid wheatgrass smoothies a week and a half ago. Maybe the sex embargo would've ended before the wheatgrass and I would've just kept around the health food to prove a point." Regina bit her lip.

Emma stepped towards her and grabbed Regina's hand. "I'm not leaving anytime soon, Regina. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone else in my entire life. But I get it, it's hard for you to trust in people sometimes. Even harder for you to trust people again once they've broken your trust, even a little bit. You have nothing to fear from me. You can trust me. But I get it, it takes time to talk yourself out of all your doubts and let yourself be happy again." Emma smiled sadly. "Take as much time as you need. I'll still be here."

"Thank you, Emma." Regina squeezed her hand. "I don't think it helps that I barely get to see you."

"Compounded by the fact that I didn't really ask you about switching shifts."

"In a way, I was displeased by that, but not really angry. But no, it didn't help."

"I'm sorry for that too."

"It's fine, as you said you were doing a favor for your father."

Emma regarded the other woman carefully. Now she sort of felt crappy about all the lying she was doing in order to make this proposal work. But she knew Regina would understand once everything was said and done. This was literally the opposite of seeing her as Evil Queen and running. This was a pledge to stay. And it was going to be fucking perfect and Regina was going to feel just how much Emma loved her if it was the last thing she did.

Emma stepped forward and kissed Regina gently. "Doesn't change that I should have asked you and that I'm a fucking idiot."

"Language, Miss Swan."

Emma snorted. Some things never changed. She kissed Regina again. She had a feeling that Regina was well on her way fully forgiving her. She just had to be patient.


	8. Chapter 8

A whole day early. Oh boy! Herein lies Emma Swan being a badass, so enjoy the things and review if you like.

* * *

Emma got into the bug later that day, sighing heavily. It had been a long day. It had been a long _week_. Hell, who was she kidding it had been a long month, for Christ's sake. But today was worse than normal. She set her head on the steering wheel and closed her eyes. The discussion with Regina at lunch had taken a lot more out of her than she had thought. She would be glad when this all was over and she could spend as much time as she wanted with Regina. But for now it was Friday.

She groaned loudly as she reached for her keys to start the bug. Friday was not a day to be as drug out as she was. It was one of the bar's busiest days and therefore one of her biggest tip opportunities. She had to be bright, smiley, energetic, never miss a beat, never miss a toss, never miss a catch, employing her biggest and most impressive Emma Swan moves tonight. She was keeping up with what she needed to get in tips per day to get Regina's ring, but just barely. She needed to be on her game to make sure she made it and didn't fall behind. Even better if tonight she actually managed to get ahead, but for that she couldn't be as tired as she was. She had to pep herself up somehow.

The bug roared to life under her fingers and she lifted her head. Maybe she'd grab a Red Bull from the back when she got to Bubba's. But shit those things were expensive even if Bubba only required employees to pay unit price instead of the inflated bar price. She sighed again. Emma could do without then. She just had to think of Regina, that should perk her up sufficiently to get through yet another shift.

At least she tomorrow she didn't have any sheriff duties. She could sleep in her own bed surrounded by the smell of Regina once eight in the morning rolled around. Maybe she could even convince Regina to come snuggle with her after the kid went off with one of his friends. Thank god for teenagers wanting to spend every second with their friends. At least in this one case. The thought of the kid growing up still traumatized her somewhat.

She flew out of Storybrooke, the engine of the bug groaning its protest. The old car definitely did not like all these long trips outside of Storybrooke at questionable speeds. She'd baby the car when this was over, oil change, new spark plugs, the works when she had the money. Emma wanted to keep the bug around as long as possible. Even if she only kept the bug around anymore just to hear Regina bitch about it being an ugly deathtrap.

She got to Bubba's with a few minutes to spare, chugging the tomato soup while trying to inhale the fries that Ruby had packed for her dinner. Emma fluffed out her hair in the mirror and pulled down her tank top so it showed a little more cleavage than normal. She grabbed her make up bag that she kept in the glove box and touched up the light make up she'd put on earlier. When she deemed herself ready for another night of work she stepped out of the bug and walked into Bubba's.

The regulars were already seated at the bar, talking with Bubba and each other. Bubba waved at her as she went back into his office to drop off her jacket. She returned to the bar quickly, smiling exhaustedly at Bubba as she walked up to Melinda, firmly seated in the area of the bar that Emma usually tended. The prickly woman had taken quite the liking to her after the first few days. She shot the same smile at Melinda, trying to brighten it up a little but failing.

She grabbed the empty glass in front of Melinda and threw it in the dirty glass bin. "So what'll it be today, Melinda?"

"Whatever newfangled thing you can come up with, Swan." Melinda's backcountry drawl drew out the words in odd ways.

Emma nodded. "Well, let's see I made you a Comso yesterday and a sidecar the car the day before." Emma pursed her lips in thought. "Ever had a snakebite?"

The woman just looked at her. "Well, I've gotten bitten by a snake if that counts. Hurt like a son of a bitch. Found the little bastard and took his head off with a shovel 'fore I went to the hospital."

Emma snorted. "Not exactly what I meant. Here." Emma started to grab what she needed from below the bar and set about mixing the drink, doing her normal warm up number, tossing the bottles and shakers easily. She grabbed a shot glass and set it in front of Melinda, pouring the light yellow drink into it a second later. "Have a snakebite. I guarantee this'll be better than the real thing."

The woman picked up the shot and threw it back, a few strands of dyed red hair falling out of her cap. Her nose twitched as she slammed the glass down. "Not bad, Swan, but I gotta say, you've made me better."

Emma shrugged. "Maybe tomorrow then." She got out the normal fixings of Melinda's usual rum and coke.

She left the woman with a fresh drink and made her rounds, filling empty drinks and conversing with everyone. The regulars had taken well to her, with a few exceptions. She let Bubba deal with them usually. Big burly men did not intimidate her in the slightest, but it was better to avoid a conflict where she could. Besides, it wasn't worth the effort if they weren't going to tip well. There were plenty of others, regulars and new comers alike, who liked her plenty well enough to leave at least a decent tip. Emma rolled her eyes, bastards.

More and more people trickled in as it got later. It was going to be a busy one, even by Friday standards. Twangy music started to pump through the bar and she and Bubba never seemed to stop moving. Emma's energy started to go up as adrenaline trickled into her system. Her tosses got bigger, her tricks more complicated. She poured more than a few drinks, tossing the bottles behind her back and pouring while keeping up conversation with whoever she was making the drink for. Halfway through her shift she was more than on her way to getting ahead of where she needed to be with ring money. She smiled brighter at the thought.

There was finally a lull in drink orders, most people having stumbled their way to the dance floor for a string of songs that everyone seemed to know the moves. Bubba sidled over to her, leaning on the bar, staring out at the crowd.

"Lookin'a little tired today, little lady."

Emma shrugged. "Long week, even longer day."

"Everythin' ok?" He turned to her, and Emma could see the concern in his eyes, even though the rest of his face was impassive.

"Fine. It turns out that working two jobs while planning a proposal with my mother and best friend takes a lot out of you. Especially when your mother and best friend and two separate kinds of ridiculous."

Bubba chuckled. "Well then, I suppose you're doin' quite well if that's the case."

Emma snorted. "I suppose." She sighed. "I think we're close to having a break through, but everything has to be perfect. I want it to be perfect for Regina."

Bubba nodded. "I getcha."

"And she's just…she's so sophisticated, and I'm just not. So it's hard." Emma looked around. "She would stick out like a sore thumb in a place like this." Emma stopped for a second realizing what she said could be taken as an insult. "No offence."

"None taken. Different people fit in different places." Bubba shrugged.

Emma frowned, still looking at the crowd. "I've always been good and blending into the background no matter where I am," she said quietly.

Bubba turned to look at her again, surveying her face carefully. "I think the trick is findin' the place where ya fit in without bein' in the background."

Emma's eyes found Bubba's. "I've found it with Regina. It's just a little hard to get used to."

Bubba nodded. "Sometimes it is." He paused a moment before going on. "When I proposed I kept it simple, stuck to things we liked and added somethin' a little special to everythin'. I can't imagine it would've worked out any better had I gone all fancy. But that's just my take on things. Ya do what ya need to do, little lady."

And with that Bubba walked off to serve a couple red faced people back from dancing. Emma stared after him for a couple seconds before shaking herself. She wasn't sure what had just happened, but she had a job to do. She walked over to another couple of danced out people and started serving drinks again.

* * *

Not long after that was when her night went to complete shit. In the month that Emma had worked at Bubba's there hadn't been a single bar fight. She hadn't thought much of it, really. Bubba had a way of talking people down whenever the booze got a little too much to their heads. But tonight Bubba just wasn't having any luck.

Emma was mixing yet another rum and coke when raised voices caught her attention. She barely made her catch she was so distracted. She shoved the finished drink in front of the man who ordered it and started walking down the bar to where Bubba was talking in a low voice. Two burly men were face to face, inches away from each other. One of them was one of the men that didn't like Emma. She almost snorted, go figure. The other she hadn't seen before.

Broken fragments of words from their shouting match reached her ears through the blaring music.

"—stole my man—"

"—no—left you—"

"—lying—bastard!"

Emma titled her head. It sounded like someone had cheated on the newcomer and the cranky regular was the one they had cheated with. Were they arguing about another man? Emma wasn't sure she had heard right.

She finally reached Bubba's side a second later and that's when things got real. The regular grabbed his nearly full beer bottle and smashed it over the newcomer's head. Alcohol and glass splattered everywhere, soaking Emma's clothes and hair. The newcomer was dazed for a second but grabbed a bottle out of a stranger's hands and returned the favor. More alcohol and glass flew. Emma groaned internally. There was no way she was coming out of this not smelling like a distillery.

Bubba started shouting at the two men now, threating to call the cops. Emma just sighed and hopped the bar, coming down on the other side gracefully. This wasn't going to be pretty, and no small town law enforcement was going to get here in time to stop it from turning into an all-out full bar brawl. She was a sheriff, this wasn't her jurisdiction. But close enough. Besides, she would bet all the money she had that no officer from around here had been a bail bonds person and had been in quite as many fights as she had.

She stepped up behind the new comer and knocked him forward. He didn't move much, his bulk counteracting most of the force, but it was enough to knock him off balance. He tried to turn and face Emma, but Emma was ahead of him. She dropped into a crouch, stuck her leg out and tripped up the guy as he was turning. He fell heavily on the floor. Emma stood up and walked over to him.

"Now, you can either get out of here or you can ride out of here in an ambulance," she said to him evenly. "Which will it be?"

The man got up and scurried out the door, yelling over his shoulder threats to the other guy about it wasn't over because some bitch had defended him. Charming. Emma rolled her eyes and started to walk back behind the bar again.

A meaty hand settled on her shoulder. A heavy sigh escaped her. It just couldn't be that easy.

She turned and regarded the regular. He gave her his best death glare. She snorted. He had _nothing_ on Regina.

"You little bitch, who said you could get involved?" He asked her, spit flying in her face.

Emma's fists clenched. She brought one of them up to scrub her face quickly.

Bubba stepped up beside her. "Now Mark, you know there aren't no fights in here. Emma was only doin' her job breakin' it up."

"Stay out of this, Bubba. This is between me and this bitch."

Without warning he swung at Emma. She stepped back, but not enough. His fist landed a glancing blow right beside her left eye. Emma hissed in a breath. She was going to have a hell of a bruise tomorrow.

She saw red. Fuck this. She stepped forward and punched him as hard as she could in the nose. A satisfying crunch sounded and a second later blood spurted from Mark's nose. The man curled into himself. Emma stepped forward.

"I'm a lot of things, but I'm nobody's bitch." Emma turned, massaging her hand gently, returning behind the bar.

"Get out of here, Mark. And don't come back until ya have that lover's quarrel sorted out, ya hear?" Bubba escorted the man to the door.

He was behind the bar with Emma a minute later. "Ya probably need to put some ice on that." He gestured to both her face and hand.

Emma shrugged. "I've had worse."

Bubba chuckled. "I don't doubt that little lady, but I don't think ya want your lady love to see you all black and blue and swollen."

Emma sighed. "I'll ice it soon."

Bubba nodded. "Coulda handled that better."

"I have a thing with the word bitch. Sets me off." Emma shrugged. "Sorry, but he probably would've walked out of here with a broken nose anyway. He wasn't going to stop."

"I suppose, little lady. How about you try knockin' him on his ass first next time before ya go breakin' things?"

"I think I can promise that."

Bubba nodded. "Good enough for me. Ya don't handle bar fights like that as sheriff of your town, do ya?"

Emma just laughed. She couldn't exactly tell him that bar fights in Storybrooke usually involved sword fights and magic duels and the occasional dwarf pickaxe. "No, but then again most people in my town know not to call me a bitch."

"Fair enough."

Bubba walked off, starting to serve customers once again.

* * *

Emma was tired, cranky as hell, sore, sticky in places she shouldn't be, and she knew she _reeked _of cheap beer. As she crossed the town line into Storybrooke all she wanted to do was take a shower and pass out until morning when she could go see Regina. There was an electric current under her skin though. She remembered the feeling well. She was restless. So fucking restless her legs kept jiggling even as she tried her best to keep them still. This was how she always got right before she uprooted from a place and moved on.

Leaving Storybrooke was absolutely the last thing on her mind right now. But that didn't dampen the current coursing through her veins. There was only one person that had been able to soothe her when she was like this and Regina was asleep and would be for hours yet. She sighed heavily. No matter how tired she was, she wasn't going to be able to do anything productive in this state. Emma wasn't even sure that she could convince herself to grab a shower while she waited for to be an appropriate time to go see Regina.

She stopped the bug in front of the station and got out. Emma flexed her shoulder blades. It felt like something, wings maybe, were about to burst forth from her back. She had to move. The twitching in her legs and tension in her back would dissipate if she just moved. Her legs started forward without her command, wandering up and down Storybrooke streets and back alleys with no rhyme or reason to her movement. The desire to run, to flee, to fly even, eased somewhat as her feet ghosted along the pavement. The wings in her back settled, they weren't about to burst through anymore, but they rustled under her skin, speaking of other places she could soar to if she just let herself.

She used to love that feeling. It felt like freedom. It felt like endless possibility. The ability to start over new and make whatever she wanted of herself, to escape her past, to meet a slew of new people who wouldn't know her from Adam, who didn't know just where she had come from, the options left her breathless. God, it had been the only feeling that made her feel _safe_ until Regina had asked her out to dinner in that hospital room three years ago. She had needed to be in control of everything until she just hadn't anymore. Love had taken control of her. And the thing was, she wouldn't change it for anything.

So this feeling as if she needed to run again? It was driving her mad. It felt like she was ripping in two.

She walked and walked and walked, thoughts going in the same circles, always coming back to Regina and always coming back to love, until the sun finally crested the horizon. When the light registered in her distracted mind she practically ran back to the bug. Being able to breathe, to silence the rustling of wings, was just around the corner.

Emma hit the doorstep of 108 Mifflin just as the sun made it high enough to reflect off the windows of the house, lighting the house a golden pink. She ripped open the door, just managing to remember to throw off her boots and jacket at their respective places. The shower was running, the hum of the water through the pipes slightly soothing Emma. She sighed heavily. She was home. Regina was awake. The current started to diminish under her skin.

She made her way up the stairs and into their room. With Regina in the shower she couldn't do anything about smelling like a distillery just yet, so with a longing glance at their bed she flopped down on the chaise. Emma threw an arm over her eyes gently, minding her bruise that felt sorer by the moment and waited for Regina to get out of the shower.

The water stopped a few minutes later. Emma bolted up from the chaise and sat on the edge of it for a moment before deciding she couldn't wait. She shot up and walked over to the bathroom, throwing open the door. Regina let out a surprised squeak, fireball springing to the hand that wasn't holding her towel up. When she realized it was Emma who had thrown open the door she rolled her eyes and extinguished the fireball.

"Really, Miss Swan, where have your manners gone?"

"Sorry," Emma mumbled, looking down.

Regina walked over and titled Emma's face up. Concern filled her eyes and she turned Emma so that she could survey the younger woman's new bruise. "Emma, what happened?"

"Had to break up a bar fight last night." Emma shrugged. "It was no big deal. I just didn't step out of the way of a punch fast enough."

Regina scowled. "It is a big deal if you were hurt in anyway."

Emma snorted. "It could've been worse, but I know how to handle myself, Regina, I promise. You should see the other guy." Emma shot her a cocky look.

"I do not care about the state of the other man." Regina rolled her eyes. "Idiot, I care about you. I do not care if it's your job to break up bar fights, I don't want you hurt."

She lifted her fingers to Emma's face and traced them over the bruise. Warmth suffused Emma's being. Emma sighed and leaned into Regina's fingers, eyes drooping closed. Emma always had loved the feeling of Regina's magic flowing through her. A second later the warmth stopped but Regina's hand remained.

"I'll be more careful next time. But honestly this time I thought the threat was taken care of, the second guy just decided to take personal offense that a woman had defended him."

"Even with you being their savior?" Regina snorted. "What am I saying, most of the people that inhabit this town are bigoted idiots."

Emma shrugged. She couldn't really disagree there. She stepped closer and wrapped Regina in her arms. The last of the electric under her skin stopped. Her eye lids start to droop closed again. She had been up a full 24 hours and now that the restlessness had left her she was finally tired.

"Yeah, needless to say it wasn't exactly a pleasant night," she mumbled into Regina's hair.

Regina laid a kiss on Emma's neck. "It doesn't seem like it ,dear."

They stayed in each other's arms for a few long minutes, breathing each other in and seeking comfort in the other's presence before Regina stepped back.

"Really, Miss Swan, you smell as if you drowned in liquor." Her nose twitched a few times. Emma smiled at the cute gesture.

"Yeah well, I was standing rather close when they decided to smash each other in the head with rather full beer bottles."

"Well then, I suggest a shower." Regina stepped closer again, kissing Emma lightly. "While you're at it I'll go get dressed then start breakfast."

Regina walked out into their room. Emma peaked around the door frame, shucking off her tank top and throwing it into the hamper.

"Hey, Regina?" she called to the other woman who had disappeared into the closet.

"Yes, Emma?" came the muffled reply.

"Wear something comfy? After the kid has gone off to do whatever with Paige or Ava and Nicholas you should come cuddle with me. I mean it is Saturday after all."

Regina appeared in a t-shirt and yoga pants a few seconds later. "Way ahead of you, Miss Swan." She ran the towel through her short hair once more before chucking it in the hamper as well.

Emma smiled brightly. "I'm glad we're on the same page." She peeled off the rest of her clothes and hopped into the shower a minute later.


	9. Chapter 9

Eep, short chapter. And here I thought I'd managed to parse them out more evenly in this second batch. Anyway, enjoy guys.

* * *

A week and a half later Emma couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. It wasn't just an every now and again thing, either. It was every minute of every day. Until she crossed the town line. Then, and only then, was when the feeling left her. For those few hours a day she worked at Bubba's the hair on the back of her neck did not stand on end.

She felt like she was going insane. Every time she looked around there was no one watching, just regular everyday Storybrooke citizens going about their business. There was no person who showed up more often than they should. No one acted even the least bit suspicious. No matter how much she tried to convince herself she was just imagining it, the feeling just didn't go away no matter how little evidence she had to support her suspicions.

Yet again a shiver wracked her frame as she strolled into Granny's at lunch time. Ruby smiled at her as she strutted her way between tables, delivering bits and pieces of people's meals. Emma hopped up on one of the bar stools and waited for her best friend to cycle back to her. The waitress appeared a few minutes later, stowing her tray under the counter and grabbing her note pad from her apron pocket.

"Your normal, Ems?" Ruby shook her head, throwing her red streaked hair behind her shoulders.

"Yeah, that's cool." Emma bit her lip for a second before going on. "Ruby, have you noticed anyone watching me lately?"

Ruby's face scrunched. "No, why?"

"I've just had this feeling for the past few days that someone has been watching me, but I never see anyone acting suspicious. It's weird."

Ruby shrugged. "Dunno, Ems. If I see anyone I'll tell you, but it's been business as normal, really."

Emma nodded. "Thanks, Rubes."

Ruby went off to place Emma's order. She slid a hot chocolate in front of Emma before going off on another round of the restaurant. Emma sighed and slouched down on the bar. Maybe five and half weeks of working sixteen hours a day was getting to her. But she was almost halfway there. She couldn't stop now, even if she was going a bit batty.

The bell over the diner door rang. Emma glanced up and smiled at her mother. Snow took a quick look around the restaurant as she was hanging up her coat and smiled back brightly at Emma once she spotted her. A minute later Snow was sitting on the stool beside Emma.

"Hi, Emma," Snow said settling in.

"Hey." Emma took a sip of her cocoa.

"Have you thought anymore about my suggestions for the proposal?"

Emma mentally groaned. The last thing that she wanted to do was think about the latest suggestions. She didn't think it could get any worse than bluebird lingerie, but apparently it did. In what god forsaken world did _anyone_ think that anything to do with Medusa was appropriate for a proposal? God, did she really share half of her DNA with the woman sitting beside her?

"I'm not sure anything you suggested last time is really a good fit," Emma said gently.

Snow visibly deflated. "Oh. I thought I really had it this time."

"They were really…unique." That was one way to put it. Horrible was another.

"That's why I thought you would like them. I mean, it's not like Regina is a traditional woman."

"No, that's definitely true." Emma snorted.

Ruby appeared again. "Oooh, are you guys talking proposal? Did you think about the camping idea?"

At least that idea hadn't been _quite_ so hideous. More just nothing that Regina would ever go for. "Uh, yeah, not exactly Regina's thing, you know. At least without a hoard of servants to make the camping experience better."

Ruby shrugged it off. "Yeah, true. It was an idea, though."

Emma thought for a minute. "You still have enough time to get reservations at Lumiere's?"

Ruby's eyes lit up. "You bet. Is that what you want to do?"

After six weeks of crackpot ideas it was definitely the one that appealed to Emma the most. "Yeah, I think so."

The wolf started to bounce on her toes. "Oh awesome! I'll call Lumiere tonight and arrange everything. I'll make sure you guys get the most romantic table and everything. You said that you wanted to do everything three days after you're supposed to get the ring?"

Emma nodded.

"Ok! Don't worry I'll set everything up for you."

Emma bit the inside of her cheek. Hopefully she wasn't getting over her head. "Thanks, Rubes."

Ruby gasped. "I know what you can do activity-wise!" She looked over at Mary Margret excitedly. "You can come to our production of Macbeth!"

"What?" Emma tilted her head to the side. This was the first she'd ever heard of this.

"I wanted to put on a classical play for the children of Storybrooke," Snow said. "So I took action and put together some funding and got some community support and now I'm the director of the play." She shrugged. "I held auditions last week, Ruby is our Lady Macbeth. The first performance is scheduled for the night you're going to propose. Henry's volunteered to be a stage hand, too."

Emma scowled. "I'm missing a lot working so much, aren't I?"

Both women shrugged.

"Yeah,"

"Sort of, sweetie." They both said at once.

She sighed. Well. Only six more weeks of being completely fucking oblivious.

She looked between her mother and her best friend. A play was classy, granted it wasn't going to be anywhere near Broadway, but Regina did have a certain fondness for Shakespeare, especially his tragedies. It wasn't a bad idea. Maybe if she coupled dinner and play with some stellar bedroom activities this proposal wouldn't be half bad. Emma swirled around her cocoa in her cup, maybe not as stellar as she was hoping, but she was using what she had to work with.

"I think that's a good idea," Emma finally said.

Ruby squealed and jumped up and down. "Oh Em, you're both gonna love it!"

Emma smiled at her friend.

Behind the counter Gaston yelled "Order up!"

Ruby shot them both an apologetic look and went back to doing her job, leaving the mother and daughter to their lunch. Emma sipped the last of her cocoa. At least most of the planning was done. Now all she had to do was work six more weeks. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up yet again. It was going to be a long six weeks.

* * *

Another week and not only did she feel like she was being watched in Storybrooke but out of Storybrooke as well. It was ridiculous. The only people who could leave Storybrooke were her, Henry, and Regina and she certainly would realize if they were the ones following her everywhere.

She was starting to get abnormally jumpy. What if someone from the outside had figured out Storybrooke's secret? What if it had been her fault coming and going from town so much? Every time someone raised their voice or slammed down a shot glass anymore she was flinching.

After one particularly noticeable jump Bubba sidled up to her.

"What's got ya so jumpy, little lady?" he asked, drying a glass with a clean dish rag.

"Nothing." Emma shrugged.

Bubba just looked at her. "Uh huh. Ain't nothin' good came of lyin'."

Emma heaved a sigh, shoulders slumping as she leaned on the bar. Bubba was going to think she was crazy. Emma's hand came up to rub at the back of her neck.

"It's stupid."

"Now let me be the judge of that." Bubba put the glass down and turned to her, giving her his full attention.

"It's just—for the last two weeks or so I've felt like someone been watching me and following me around. Last week it was only in town, but now it's here too. It's got me a little on edge."

Bubba nodded. "Understandable, little lady. Ya done any investigatin' about who could be watchin' ya?"

Emma shook her head. "The thing is, I don't know anyone who would or what they would have to gain even if there was someone. I'm not exactly worth spying on, you know? What you see is what you get, mostly."

Except for the fact that she was the child of Snow White and Prince Charming and the savior of literally almost all fairytale characters ever complete with shiny blue magic, but it wasn't like Bubba needed to know that. Some days Emma didn't even want to know.

"Somehow I highly doubt that, little lady, but that's a different kettle of fish." Bubba looked her over carefully, almost as if he was searching for something. "Ya really can't think of no one who would check up on ya?"

"Obviously if I knew I'd have taken care of it by now. It's sorta driving me crazy."

Bubba just looked at her. "Ya haven't done nothin' stupid like lie to your woman about this second job, have ya?"

Emma looked down and wrung her hands. "Well, I mean I haven't _lied_ to her exactly."

"Lyin' by omission still counts."

"Well if you frame it that way…" Emma trailed off, suddenly finding literally anything else in the room to be the most fascinating thing she had ever seen.

"That's what I thought." Bubba sighed and shook his head. "I get that ya want everythin' to be special and a surprise, but what would ya think if your woman just disappeared for eight hours a day?"

"Well, I'm not disappearing…she thinks I switched shifts with my deputy to work nights and I'm sleeping while she's at work."

Bubba just stared at her. "I'm not sure I've heard a more stupid story than the one you're spinnin' me, little lady."

"Hey! It was a good plan."

"Uh huh, did ya really think it was a good idea to lie to your woman like that? This ain't no 'no sweetie I think ya look great in that outfit' grade lie. What do ya think will happen if she found out?"

Worst case? Death, destruction, possibly cursing them all back to the realm they'd all come from. Best? A fireball thrown at her head and sleeping on the couch for at least a month and maybe a reappearance of wheatgrass for every meal. Oh, and no sex until Henry hit college.

"I don't know. Nothing good." Emma said.

Bubba nodded. "Right, well, ya think this whole 'someone is watchin' you' business is just your conscience tellin' ya what a jack wagon you're bein'? She's your woman, little lady. Did ya not think she deserved to know the truth about where ya are? Ya aren't supposed to lie to your girl, Swan. Hell, if ya wanted to keep the proposal a secret ya could have just lied about why ya needed the extra money, not where ya were. That's just stupid."

Emma ground the toe of her boot into the ground. "Yeah…I guess you're right."

"Damn straight I am."

"But I would've realized if Regina was following me. I could pick her out of a crowd at five miles."

"Like I said, guilty conscience. I think you're just damn lucky your woman hasn't found out. I'd be tellin' her as soon as possible to fix this little mess you've made, little lady."

Emma's face was bright red. "Uh, yeah I guess."

Bubba nodded. "Good." He picked up the glass he'd cleaned and walked off to serve some more customers.

Emma wanted to melt into a puddle on the spot. God, she really had had her head up her ass lately hadn't she? She and Regina both had trust issues. How could she have ever thought lying was a good option? She pressed a hand to her eyes and rubbed. Love had made her too fucking stupid to even understand what the woman she loved really needed.

If there wasn't a fuckton of irony in that statement.

She went back to tending bar, plastering a smile on her face. She still had to make enough money for the ring after all even if she was the world's biggest jackass. God, maybe she really had inherited the Charming stupidity. She sighed and started to flip a few bottles without her normal flair.


	10. Chapter 10

Have your weekly update and as always read and enjoy.

* * *

It took her two more days to actually work up the courage to sit down next to Regina at breakfast with the right words on her tongue, ready to spill out at a moment's notice. She had thought long and hard about what she was going to say. It had to be perfect and it had to be framed in a way that still wouldn't give away the proposal. It also had to explain just how much of a jackass she was and how most days it wasn't Regina who wasn't worthy of Emma it was the other way around. Regina wouldn't have pulled this shit over on her. Emma knew that with more certainty than she had in the fact that she wanted to wake up in Regina's arms for the rest of her life.

God, she really had a fucking lot to make up for. Hopefully this apology would be a good start and the proposal would finish up strong. Jesus, did she hope.

She reached across the table and grabbed Regina's hand. The other woman had been rather quiet this morning, but that was ok. It worked in Emma's favor really. She opened her mouth just as Regina slipped her hand out of Emma's. Emma scowled down at her empty hand. Regina never did that after such a short time. She valued the casually intimate touches they shared.

Emma looked at Regina's hand now resting primly in her lap. Regina went on eating her breakfast like nothing was wrong. Emma bit the inside of her cheek. Maybe Regina was just tired and cranky? It definitely wasn't unheard of for her to reject physical contact then, but that was only when she was really far gone. Emma surveyed her lovers face but found none of the signs of the bone deep exhaustion that would be at the root of that particular problem.

Emma laid her fork down. The clink of metal against china had Regina looking up from her breakfast and to Emma. A fake smile lit her face.

"Something wrong dear? She asked in a saccharinely sweet voice.

"Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing," Emma said pitching her voice so it wouldn't be viewed as something hostile.

"Why would anything be wrong with me?" Regina cocked an eyebrow.

"You're acting weird."

"I don't see anything abnormal about my behavior, Miss Swan."

"You won't let me hold your hand." Emma gestured at the hand resting in Regina's lap.

"And how is that abnormal?" Regina went back to meticulously cutting up her breakfast.

"You always let me hold your hand until you need it. You like when I hold your hand. The only time you don't is when you've been up for so long you're seeing double and blowing up half the town seems like a good idea to you again."

Regina looked up at her sharply. "I fail to see your point, Miss Swan."

"Well, obviously you aren't that tired so there has to be something else wrong. Are you mad at me Regina? I can't fix whatever made you mad unless I know about it."

"Nothing is wrong, Miss Swan. Perhaps you're reading too much into things."

"There's never such a thing as reading too much into something with you, Regina."

Regina's fork scraped loudly against her plate. Emma winced at the noise. She had definitely just stuck her foot in her mouth spectacularly.

"What does that mean, Miss Swan?"

"Nothing, Regina, just that you're a complicated woman who's been taught to hide her feelings for most of her life. Every gesture has a meaning with you. So why don't you tell me what's wrong. Whatever it is I didn't mean to upset you."

There was no way that Emma was going to spill about her job at Bubba's until whatever had Regina on edge right now was cleared up. She didn't need to add fuel to what looked to be an already raging fire. Emma wasn't suicidal.

"It's _nothing_, Miss Swan. Nothing is wrong. Drop it."

"But the thing is, Regina, you haven't called me anything but Miss Swan all morning. I mean usually you slip in a few Emma's in there somewhere if you're just communicating your displeasure at a really bad pun or something stupid like that."

Regina visibly swallowed. "Emma, I assure you, nothing is wrong. I am just tired."

"Regina—"

Regina stood up quickly, chair almost flipping over behind her. "Enough, sheriff! Now, if you'll excuse me I must get to work."

Regina stalked out of the room quickly, the front door closing loudly behind her. Emma sat at the table, staring at her plate distantly for a few seconds. Well, that hadn't gone anywhere near to plan.

She looked out the window, catching the tail end of Regina's Mercedes disappear. That hadn't gone anywhere near to plan and it looked like she was in deep shit for something. God, she would do anything to make whatever she did up to Regina…if only she actually knew what the hell she'd done wrong. It wasn't like Regina knew about the job at Bubba's yet. She couldn't know. Emma was _sure_ that she wouldn't have recognized Regina following her around.

But other than that Emma had no clue what she could have done. She hadn't been around enough to say something really stupid to Regina. She hadn't taken Henry on any impromptu trips without permission anymore. She hadn't come home piss drunk from a girl's night with Ruby in ages. Hell, she hadn't even put herself in some stupid harebrained situation that put her in some sort of danger since Gothel had been detained the year before. She literally hadn't done anything that normally pissed off Regina.

Emma swallowed hard. She was in some deep shit. She sighed heavily and started to clear away the breakfast dishes. As she scraped the remains of Regina's omelet into the trash she had an idea.

Henry. Maybe he would know what was wrong with his mother. He'd at least been around more than Emma had. Maybe he had heard Regina muttering about something that could at least point Emma in the right way. Anything at this point would be a blessing.

She looked at the clock. Only eight hours until she got some answers. She scrunched her eyes shut and rubbed at her temples. Today was going to be a long day. She grabbed her leather jacket and headed out the door.

* * *

Exactly at three o'clock the doors to Henry's school burst open and a stream of kids came pouring out. Emma wasn't sure if there was a more annoying sound than pre-teen chatter. There was a limit on the amount of times she could hear the word penis screamed at the top of some 14 year old boy's lungs before Emma lost her sense of humor. She wasn't sure how she survived middle school without murdering a few people.

Henry finally emerged from the school towards the back of the crowd. He spotted Emma's bug immediately and rushed over to it. Sometimes it was nice having such a recognizable car.

"Emma!" Henry shouted practically ripping the door off its hinges.

"Hey kid." She smiled warmly at him.

"It feels like I haven't seen you in forever." He threw his bag in the back seat and turned to her once again.

"Yeah, sorry. Everything has been crazy lately with the two jobs." She reached over and mussed his hair.

Henry scowled and patted his hair back in place quickly. "Why aren't you at work now, though?"

Emma held up her cell phone. "I rerouted all of the station's calls to my cell phone so I could spend some time with you." She sighed and looked at her phone before throwing it in the bug's cup holder. "Also I might need your help."

Henry titled his head. "I thought you had everything planned? I told you everything sounded good."

Emma shook her head. "Not about the proposal, kid. I managed to piss off your Mom royally, but I have no idea what I did wrong. You're the only one who would have any idea about what I did."

Emma shifted the bug into gear and turned towards Granny's. She might as well treat the kid while she had the time. She really did hate that she hadn't have any time with her family recently. Five weeks to go until she could be with them like normal again.

Henry looked at her levelly. "Well, she really doesn't like you being gone so much."

"I'm not a big fan of it either, but she understands why I'm gone. I've been training the new volunteer deputies so they can take over the night shift from David to keep up the cover and everything."

"Yeah. But Mom isn't stupid, Ma."

"What do you mean?"

Henry sighed and looked out the window. "Did you ever think that you not spending any time with us would make Mom worry that you didn't want us—her anymore?"

"Why would she worry about that? That's the complete opposite of what I want."

"Yeah, well, actions speak louder than words, Ma. Mom believes that more than the average person because of all the manipulative bastards she's known."

"Henry, language."

Henry rolled his eyes. "What, it's true. It's not exactly like Mr. Gold is a great guy."

Emma snorted. "True, but still."

Henry turned to look at her again as she threw the bug into park in front of Granny's. "Think about it, Ma. Even if Mom knows exactly where you are and exactly what you're doing and why she's still going to worry that it's something she's done. She's going to worry she's driving you away, that you don't really love her." His eyes hardened. "You're hurting her and you don't even realize it."

"Henry, I—"

Henry just shot her another glare that shut her up.

"You haven't exactly been around to make her think differently. You're so busy trying to cover up the fact that you're working two jobs that you aren't acting like you normally would. Ma, what would you be doing if you really were working Gramps shift instead of yours?"

"Well, I—"

Henry didn't let her finish. "You'd be there practically every day with lunch. And then you'd probably accidently fall asleep on her couch. Mom would let you sleep there until it was time for you to go home and get ready for your shift. There'd be flowers on her desk at least once a week or chocolate or something to show just how sorry you were about having to work nights. On the weekends you wouldn't ever leave her side no matter what happened. Have you done any of that?"

She just stared at Henry.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, Ma." Henry crossed his arms.

Emma chuckled weakly. "I guess this is the pay back for reaming your ass three years ago about your Mom being the Evil Queen, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess it is," he said shortly. Henry popped open the door and walked into Granny's.

Emma followed after a second of sitting in the bug looking after him. She found him in the booth farthest in the back, arms crossed on the table, chin resting on top of them lightly, brow furrowed. Emma slid in on the other side, red leather squeaking slightly underneath her. She sat quietly, staring at Henry. She sensed the kid wasn't quite done yet.

A few minutes later after Ruby had set down two hot chocolates in front of them he spoke up again. "This is supposed to be our happy ending. It doesn't feel like it at all. You're gone all the time. You have no idea what's going on anymore. God, I'm starting to miss you teasing me about Paige. You don't know that I got her to agree to go to the Spring Fling with me. You just aren't _here. _I don't feel like I have a second mom anymore. I feel like I have some dead beat Dad or something that's always promising it's going to get better but it never does. So yeah, I get why Mom is mad at you. Maybe if you got your head out of your ass you'd see it too."

"Henry," Emma pleaded. "I really didn't know that you felt like this. I'm sorry I made you feel like I was never around, like I didn't care about what's going on. I do. I really, really do. And if there was any other way to get the money I needed for your Mom's ring I'd do it. It's almost over. Just a little over a month and everything will be good again. But I'll try harder in the meantime to be around, ok? God, I really don't want to win the shitty parent and girlfriend of the year award, you know? I can only try and fix the things I know about and I didn't know you felt this way, I swear. I'm only human Henry."

Henry huffed, looking down into his hot chocolate. "Yeah, well, you know now. So fix it."

"I really will try." Emma reached across the table and squeezed Henry's shoulder. "So. While we're here why don't you update me about this whole dance situation? How in the world did you get her to go with you? Did you use the smooth moves you inherited from me?"

Henry snorted, trying to keep the edges of his mouth from curling up, but failing. "Alright, Ma, but trust me any moves I inherited were from Mom."

"You wound me." Emma clutched her chest overdramatically.

Henry rolled his eyes. "Let's face it, Ma. You're corny. Mom's the smooth talker in the family."

"I can't really disagree there, can I?"

"No, now shut up so I can tell you."

Emma threw her napkin at Henry but stayed quiet anyway.

Henry launched into his tail about asking Paige out. Emma smiled and laughed at all the right places, finally feeling a little more like normal after everything that had happened today. They stayed talking at the diner until Emma had to get ready to leave for Bubba's. She grabbed her to-go order and carted the kid back to the house.

As the bug pulled up to the mansion Emma took out her cell phone and unlocked it. She handed it to Henry. He looked at her curiously before reading it.

"So tell me, kid, how fucked am I with your Mom?" she asked as he started to scroll up to view more of the conversation she'd had earlier when she told Regina she was going to pick Henry up.

Henry glanced up at her, handing back her cell. "Fucked up a creek without a paddle, or even a boat for that matter."

She shot him a look for the language, but couldn't really negate what he'd said. She looked down at the last text message Regina had sent: **Whatever suits your needs sheriff. **She sighed heavily and put her phone away again.

"Gonna take more than a hot chocolate and talking isn't it?"

"You're gonna be groveling for a while."

Well fuck. "Thanks kid, I'll see what I can do in the groveling department."

Henry laughed once and then launched himself out of the car. "See you later, Ma."

"Bye kid," she shouted after him as he shot up the walk.

She put the bug into gear again and rumbled off towards Bubba's once more.


	11. Chapter 11

If you aren't fond of sex scenes skip from the second line break down. You won't miss anything plot wise, I promise. I cut It so it wouldn't affect anything if you didn't read the glorious smut fest that is the last half of this chapter. With that said, read, enjoy and review if you would like.

* * *

The next day Emma walked into Regina's office juggling a bunch of things: take out from Regina's favorite restaurant, oddly a little hole in the wall place that made the best chicken noodle soup that Emma had ever tasted; of bouquet of all of Regina's favorite flowers, honeysuckle, tiger lilies, and apple blossoms; a bottle of wine; and a card that said "Sorry I fucked up." Emma thought that maybe the card was a little over the top, but at the same time she couldn't convince herself to leave it out either. She thought if nothing else it would get Regina to smile a little. She would take what she could get at this point.

Emma smiled shyly when Regina looked up from her desk. "Hey."

Regina bit her lip and regarded Emma carefully. "Hey," she finally replied after a long minute.

"Um, I brought lunch. And uh, flowers. Oh, and a card saying just how much of a jackass I am." Emma tried to gesture at all the stuff in her arms but only succeeded it almost dropping all of it on the floor.

"I can see that, Miss Swan."

Emma waddled over to the conference table and set everything down carefully. She picked up the flowers again and walked over to Regina, holding them out like a white flag. The older woman stood and accepted them silently, going over to a cabinet and pulling out a vase. She placed them on the corner of her desk, pouring in water from the pitcher she kept in the room at all times.

Regina caressed a honeysuckle blossom thoughtfully. "Do you know the meanings of these flowers, Miss Swan?"

Emma titled her head to the side, confused. What did this have to do with anything? "No, they really didn't have a class on that in juvie."

"I suppose they wouldn't." Regina stroked the petal of a tiger lily. "Orange lilies indicate desire and passion." Her fingers trailed to an apple blossom. "Apple blossoms denote preference." Regina's fingers then stilled on a honeysuckle flower yet again. "And honeysuckle represent _devoted_ affection."

Emma was even more confused now. What exactly was Regina trying to say? Was she trying to say anything at all? Or was this just another one of her rants like that time she told Emma any and all facts that she could think of about apples?

"Uh, that's nice? I, um—well the only real meaning I know is red roses mean love."

"True love actually, darling." She turned to look at Emma, eyebrow cocked. "Though in our case right now I'd say a yellow rose is more fitting."

"What does yellow represent?"

Regina turned back to the flowers again. "Even you have Google, Miss Swan. Perhaps you should use it."

"Uh, um, ok, Regina. You're being really fucking cryptic right now and I don't think it's helping. I'm trying to make up for whatever I did, even though I have no idea what. I'm really trying my best, you know? So I brought you chicken soup from Nina's with some of those rolls you really, really like and your favorite wine. And that card that says I'm an asshole, too, just so maybe I could see you smile."

"I don't think food or cards will make up for your infraction this time."

Emma groaned loudly. "Then tell me what will! Regina, I'm _trying_ how many more times do I have to say that? But you are literally a mystery wrapped in an enigma with a chewy secret center. Sometimes you have to give me a clue in order for me to actually bumble my way to what you actually want because sometimes I'm really fucking dense."

Emma stopped her rant and took a deep breath. "Regina, all I know is that I want to make this work between us because I love you so damn much most days it should probably be illegal. And I may be stupid, and I may make really fucking dumb mistakes, but that doesn't mean I don't want to fix them somehow. You're the best damn thing I've ever had in my life. I don't want to lose you just because I make really crappy decisions sometimes." Emma looked at the floor. "I don't want you to push me away. I don't think—I'm not sure—I just…" Emma trailed off. She couldn't find the words to express just how devastated she would be if Regina left her.

Regina turned again, surveying Emma with an inscrutable expression.

"It's just that you've been pushing me away for the past couple of days and combine that with the fact that I haven't seen you really in weeks and I haven't been with you in weeks either…It just—I just don't think sometimes and sometimes outside stress just makes me want to run and I do stupid shit. You know?"

Regina sighed lightly and walked over to Emma. Her hands came to Emma's cheeks and wiped the few tears that had managed to escape. She lifted Emma's face and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. Emma's arms found their way around Regina's waist and tugged the smaller woman closer.

"I know, Emma. We both have our fair share of problems." Regina nuzzled into Emma's neck.

They stayed wrapped in each other's arms for a few long minutes before Regina pulled back again. Regina smoothed out the non-existent wrinkles in her skirt before looking up at Emma again. Her mask was fully in place once again and Emma didn't like it one bit. What the hell had she done that Regina felt the need to be so guarded around her?

"Thank you for the food, Miss Swan, but I have a busy day today so I'm afraid I can't spend much time with you today if you don't mind."

Emma sighed heavily. "Yeah, ok." She turned towards the door. "Have a good day Regina. I love you."

She heard Regina walking back behind her desk. "Emma?" She called just as Emma was about to grab for the door handle.

Emma turned around again to face the other woman. "Yeah?"

"Look up the meanings of a yellow rose. I think that might give you the clue you need."

Emma's face scrunched but she nodded. "Ok, Regina, I will."

Regina nodded. "Have a good day, Miss Swan."

"Bye." Emma turned once again and made her way out the door.

* * *

Emma woke up on Saturday just after noon to an empty bed. She wasn't surprised that Regina hadn't come back to bed to cuddle with her, but it still stung just a little bit. She stretched and sat up. Her ears picked up no sound coming from the rest of the house. A scowl crossed her face. Not only was she alone in bed but she was alone period. Definitely not how she wanted to spend her Saturday. She could go seek out Regina, though she had no idea where she was, but Emma thought she could probably figure it out quickly enough. But that was probably a bad idea. Regina was still mad at her.

Her eyes widened. She had totally forgotten to look up what the meaning of a yellow rose. She mentally cursed Duchess and Pongo for both managing to get out in the same day. By the time she had rounded them up it had been time for her to shoot off to Bubba's and of course there was no time to look up anything at the bar on a Friday night. When she had gotten home late last night she had completely forgotten about everything but her bed at Snow's.

Emma reached over to her night stand and fumbled around for her phone blindly. With some clattering her phone ended up in her hand a few seconds later. She pulled up Google and typed in flower meanings. She clicked on the first link that popped up and scrolled down to the entry on roses. Emma's eyes tracked over the yellow rose entry. Zealous? How the hell did that give her a clue as to what was wrong between her and Regina? Did Regina think she was trying too hard or something? Not fucking likely considering how absent she'd been lately.

She clicked the back button and clicked on another link. This one yielded forgive and forget, happiness, joy and affection. Regina wasn't exactly the forgiving and forgetting type. The rest of that list wasn't a bad thing, even if they were having a few problems right then in the joy and happiness department.

Emma groaned loudly and clicked out of that link. She picked another link at random and hoped it would yield some answers. Yellow was for friendship. She threw her phone down. This was why she hated research. Contradicting answers. She scrubbed her hands over her face. God even knew if flowers here had the same meanings as they did in Fairy Tale Land. She was just going to ask Regina and fuck this shit. She had tried, but since there was no agreement between any of the pages she had visited she wasn't going to rely on anything the internet provided her. It was best to just get it from the horse's mouth.

Even if that particular horse was going to beat around the bush until kingdom come just to delay giving Emma one God damn straight answer.

Geesh. If she didn't love Regina more than life itself this goose chase would be abso-fucking-lutely ridiculous. Emma missed the good old days when her problems were straightforward. Like ogres coming for her head. Yeah, she totally knew how to deal with that a hell of a lot better.

But there was no use sitting around in an empty house on one of her few afternoons off. She got up and started to get ready for the day. She'd call Regina and see if the other woman would actually pick up the phone. If she didn't she'd just head over to Granny's or something and grab some take out and bring it back and maybe marathon a season of Lost Girl or something. She was getting woefully behind. And maybe she could live vicariously through Bo. God knew she wasn't getting any anytime soon.

She fluffed her hair lightly in the downstairs mirror, curls falling lightly around her shoulders as she punched the first number in her speed dial and put the phone to her ear. Emma grabbed her red leather jacket out of the foyer closet and slipped it on as the phone continued to ring. By the time she'd zipped it up the phone had flicked over to voice mail. Emma sighed heavily. That's what she had figured would happen, but she still hoped she would be wrong.

She listened to Regina's almost robotic greeting and waited for the beep. "Hey, Regina, I was just wondering where you are since nobody's home and there wasn't a note on the nightstand. Anyway, if you get this I'm going to go grab take out from Granny's and then come home for a marathon of Lost Girl if you'd like to join me? I'd really like that. If you get this anytime soon call me with your order…or maybe I'll just grab you your usual lunch order. Uh, I guess call me if you want anything different? Right, I hope to see you later. Bye, Regina, I love you."

Emma hung up the phone and rolled her eyes at her own idiotic babbling. Jesus, it was a wonder Regina had ever gotten with her considering just how eloquent and well-spoken the older woman was, and Emma was the exact opposite of articulate most days.

She shoved her phone in her back pocket and grabbed her keys out of the bowl by the door and walked out to the bug. When she got to Granny's she asked around about Regina, but no one had seen her. It seemed like she wasn't the only one that Regina didn't want to see. Maybe it was just one of the days Regina didn't feel like being social. Those happened every so often, but usually she still managed to appear sometime in the middle of the day to curl up in Emma's arms silently. Maybe if Emma went home and started to watch Lost Girl Regina would appear by her side in the middle of an episode, not saying anything and curl up next to her. And then she would wait a few episodes and turn to Regina and ask just what yellow roses meant in the Enchanted Forest because Emma had gotten mixed reviews from Google about what they meant here.

Emma smiled. That actually sort of sounded pleasant. She grabbed her food as soon as it was ready and headed back home. A few minutes later she was curled up on their couch munching happily on her grilled cheese and tomato soup as Bo dashed around with Kenzi trying to figure out yet another Fae dilemma.

* * *

Towards the end of the first episode she perked up when she heard the tap-tap of heels on marble. Regina was home. She looked towards the doorway into the living room and waited. The other woman had to have heard her in here. Hopefully exactly what Emma wanted to happen was about to play out.

When Regina reached the doorway Emma's jaw dropped. Regina definitely wasn't about to come curl up on the couch with her. If anything she looked like she was going to fuck her ten ways to Sunday in her black six inch platform heels, black sheer stockings and garter belt, a thong that Emma wasn't even sure was there, and black corset with red stitching. Emma was pretty sure her brain had short circuited.

"R-Regina?"

Regina stalked towards her, twirling a riding crop between her fingers. The site made Emma's mouth go completely dry and her core start to throb. The bottom of the riding crop came to rest under Emma's chin, lifting her face to look up at Regina.

"Miss Swan, I think you're actions require more punishment than just few meals accented with wheatgrass, don't you?"

"I—um—things?" Emma couldn't form a complete sentence.

Regina smirked. "Do you trust me, Miss Swan?"

"With my life," Emma replied without hesitation or stutter. She didn't need her brain to know that.

The older woman nodded, pleased. "Good." She held out her hand to Emma. "Come with me then."

Emma took her hand without hesitation. It seemed that she was about to get even luckier than Bo. She felt like she was about to pass out as her eyes swept up and down Regina's form again.

Regina led them up to their bedroom and shut the door behind them. "Strip, Miss Swan. And if anything I do at all is too much for you your safe word is apple, understand?"

Emma nodded mutely.

"I need you to say the word, dear."

"Apple."

Regina smirked yet again. "Good. Now strip Miss Swan." The riding crop hit Regina's palm with a smack.

Emma set to work removing her clothes while trying not to fall over. How the hell Regina had gone from not wanting Emma to touch her to this she had no idea, but she wasn't complaining. Or maybe she should. She shot another look at Regina and scrapped that thought immediately. Everything could be dealt with later. Right now her pants were doing all her thinking for her.

She stood naked before Regina a minute later. The cold air ghosted across her skin, sending shivers across her body. Regina's pupils dilated noticeably as the muscles twitched below Emma's skin. Emma swallowed and licked her lips. It looked like she wasn't the only one who had really missed their sexcapades.

Regina stalked forward coming within inches of Emma. Emma stifled the need to reach out and grab the other woman and pull the brunette towards her. She had a feeling in this particular situation that wouldn't be appreciated. Regina dragged the edge of the riding crop down Emma's front slowly, keeping eye contact with her the whole time. Emma felt her muscles twitch and jump at the contact. Her eyes struggled to stay open. Every touch in her state seemed like sensory overload.

"Get on the bed, Miss Swan. Ass up. Now."

Emma scrambled over to the bed and complied with Regina's directions. Air whispered behind her, indicating Regina had followed her. Emma sat still for a few long moments waiting for Regina to touch her, waiting for her to do _anything_ to her, but nothing came. When a whisper came from right behind her ear Emma almost hit the ceiling.

"Now, Miss Swan, exactly how many hits do you think you deserve for your punishment."

Considering she still had no idea what she did? "However many you think, Madam Mayor."

She could practically hear Regina smirking.

"Very good answer, Miss Swan." Regina trailed the tip of the riding crop from the top of Emma's spine to right above her ass. "I think ten to start would suffice. Count them for me, Miss Swan."

The air whistled around the riding crop as it came down on her ass. Emma cried out as the pain radiated through her, but after a second it faded into something that closely resembled pleasure. Well, that was different, unexpected, and entirely pleasant.

"One," she called out after a deep breath.

"Very good, Miss Swan. I'm glad to see you do remember numbers. You had me worrying there for a minute."

Emma just buried her face in the comforter instead of sassing back. She really didn't have the mental capacity for anything clever right then. The blows came in quick succession after that, raining down evenly on both cheeks. Everything started to blend together. She was struggling to remember just exactly what number she was on. She was struggling to focus on anything other the waves of pain and pleasure coursing through her. Her arousal was dripping down her thighs. She didn't know if it was the long wait or what was being done to her, but she was pretty sure she'd never been this turned on so quickly.

"T-t-ten," she finally managed to stutter out.

Regina hummed her approval behind her. A cool hand came up to her backside and stroked lightly. Emma moaned at the soothing feeling, little zings of pain still rocketing through her. A kiss was placed to the base of her spine.

"I do believe that's quite enough of that." Regina's voice was low and rough, liquid sex that sent another jolt of arousal through Emma. She felt like she was about to combust.

Emma heard Regina move away from her and she whimpered. Regina chuckled but didn't move back towards her again. Emma wanted to look around but found her arms didn't have enough strength to lift her up right now. Instead she listened carefully for Regina's movements and thought she heard a rustle in the closet.

A second later Regina was back in the room. "Turn over, Miss Swan, with your hands towards the headboards."

Emma managed, with a little struggle, to flip herself how Regina asked. She saw that Regina was holding their set of cuffs and swallowed hard. They had experimented with bondage before, but Emma thought that tonight was going to take that to a whole 'nother level.

Regina looked at her again, eyes probing. Emma just looked back at her, trying to communicate just how much she loved and trusted the other woman, and nodded slightly. Regina took the cue and started to fix Emma's hands to the headboard. Emma sighed as the leather clasped around her wrists. Every little touch was sending arcs of pleasure through her.

When her wrists were secure Regina pulled back and held up a strip of cloth. A blindfold. That was new. Neither of them liked to be without their senses. Knowing everything that was going on around them had kept them alive at one point. Still, Emma regarded the strip of cloth carefully. She trusted her enough to go to town on her with a riding crop. She trusted Regina with her life. A blindfold wasn't exactly something over the top in that light so she nodded.

Regina affixed the blindfold, tying it behind her head efficiently. Without sight Emma felt as if she was floating unanchored. It was strange knowing she couldn't see and knowing there was really nothing she could do about it. Within seconds her skin became even more sensitive, making up for her loss of sight. She felt like she could feel every thread in the sheets below her, every speck of dust in the air. It was maddening. She tried to rub her legs together to relieve some of the pressure building and building within her.

"Ah, ah, Miss Swan." Regina pried her legs apart, lithe fingers trailing fire along the skin of her ankles. "You only get relief when I say."

Emma whimpered, but didn't make a move to close her legs again once Regina set them down. Regina's fingers hovered over her ankles again before trailing slowly up her body, deliberately avoiding her aching center before continuing their journey. Regina's other hand came up and tweaked one of Emma's nipples hard. Emma cried out, arching into the contact. Regina's hand pushed her back onto the mattress.

"Don't move or I'll leave you here for as long as I see fit. Do you understand, Miss Swan?" Fingers traced her jaw lightly.

Emma nodded.

"Use your words, dear."

"Yes, Madam Mayor."

"Good girl."

Regina's fingers resumed exploring again, tickling ribs, lightly cupping her breasts, tracing scars and stretch marks. Emma longed to squirm and writhe underneath the touches but refused to move for fear of Regina actually following through on her threat. She would literally go insane if she was left like this.

A finger swiped through her wet core and she couldn't help but jerk then. Regina, however, just chuckled darkly. Emma waited for the touch to come back once again but it never did. Instead, sucking sounds came from where she imagined Regina to be. Emma's eyes widened when she realized that Regina must be sucking her essence from her fingers. The obscene pictures that her mind conjured stoked the fire within her that much more. Was human combustion a thing? Because she was sure she was close to just immolating right then and there.

The sucking sounds stopped and a wet finger came to circle one of her nipples. It hardened even further until it was almost painful. Yet another whimper escaped Emma's mouth.

"Now, now, Miss Swan, whining never got anyone anywhere. Begging on the other hand…"

"Please, God, Regina, please I'll do anything."

"Anything for what, dear?"

"Just actually fucking touch me, please!" Emma exclaimed, starting to squirm without meaning to.

"Mmm, and why should I? You've been quite the bad girl lately, Emma."

"Please, Regina, I'll make it up to you if you just fuck me. God, I'll buy you the moon or something."

Regina laughed. "Not exactly what I'm after dear, but I appreciate the sentiment."

Lush lips captured hers in a searing kiss. Emma moaned loudly. That was so much better. Regina's tongue was in her mouth the second she opened it, exploring, plundering, claiming Emma as her own. Emma let her, happy to take a back seat as long as she was getting what she wanted.

Regina pulled back, panting for breath, forehead still resting against Emma's. "I think before I touch you, you should have to do something for me first. It's only fair."

"Anything."

The bed shifted under Emma as Regina climbed up on it. She heard a couple of thunks and assumed that Regina had thrown off her heels. Regina climbed up her body slowly, letting the fabric of her corset and stockings brush up against Emma tauntingly. When Regina had crawled up far enough a light bulb clicked off in Emma's head and her mouth watered. Regina wanted her to eat her out. Emma shivered in anticipation.

Knees came to rest on either side of Emma's head and the sweet musky smell of Regina hit her full in the face. Once Regina was fully settled Emma surged up, nosing aside the skimpy fabric of Regina's thong quickly and setting to work. Regina coated her tongue quickly. Emma moaned at the taste. She forgot just how much she loved the flavor of her girlfriend. Regina's thighs shook around her as the moan reverberated through the older woman's body.

Emma started to lick and suck in no particular pattern on Regina's clit, just enough to drive her insane, but never enough to drive her over the edge. She heard Regina's breathing above her become labored as she continued to lick. Fingers laced in her hair, tugging hard. More shots of pleasure raced to her core and she groaned.

"Emma," Regina said in what she suspected was supposed to be a warning tone but came out breathless and slightly needy.

She continued to suck and lick in the same way for a few seconds before sliding down slightly to Regina's entrance and plunging her tongue in as far as it would go. Regina cried out above her at the sudden intrusion.

"Fuck!"

A shiver wracked her frame. It turned her on so much when Regina actually did curse. Emma redoubled her efforts, plunging into Regina just as fast as she could in her confined position. She felt Regina's thighs starting to quake around her and knew the Regina was so very close. Quickly she made her way back to Regina's clit and took the bud in her mouth, sucking hard. Regina stiffened above her, a long low moan leaving her mouth as Regina's essence covered Emma's face. Emma continued to lick and suck to draw out Regina's orgasm, lapping up as much of Regina as she could.

Finally, Regina pushed her face away from her center. She heard Regina draw in a shaky breath as she moved off of Emma.

"I think that will suffice for now, Miss Swan."

Regina bent down to kiss Emma again, groaning at the taste of herself on Emma's lips. Emma just smirked and kissed her back. Regina's hands ghosted down to Emma's breasts, playing with her nipples yet again, pinching them into extra hard points and rolling them between her fingers. Emma fought the need to squirm even though she was pretty sure Regina at this point would not be leaving her as she had threatened. They were both too far gone for that.

Regina pulled back from the kiss. "Emma…" she trailed off and attached her lips to Emma's neck, sucking and licking and biting. Emma could feel the blood being drawn to the surface of her skin and knew she would have quite a few marks tomorrow, but she didn't care. She was Regina's and she was unashamed about that.

"Regina…" she couldn't find the words to say exactly what she needed, but Regina understood anyway and one of her hands slipped down Emma's body to cup her aching heat.

Emma moaned loudly. God, finally, _finally._ Regina's fingers swiped through a few times before finding Emma's clit and stroking in hard and fast little circles. The fire in Emma's stomach cranked up to 11. Emma knew it wasn't going to take long. God, it was going to take less than a minute at this rate.

Regina's fingers left her clit and entered her without warning, three fingers slipping easily inside her. Emma groaned and thrust her hips down on Regina's fingers, straining for even more contact. Regina's mouth latched onto a nipple and went to town biting and sucking and driving Emma even wilder than she already was. God, the heat was going to kill her.

Regina thrust into her hard and fast, building Emma higher and higher, her palm nudging Emma's clit every other stroke or so. She felt her walls tightening around Regina's fingers, she felt the fire in her stomach coalesce into one point. And as soon as it was going to release and spread out over her body Regina's fingers suddenly weren't there anymore.

The cry Emma let out was far from human.

"Regina," she whined, almost sobbing. "Please, Regina let me come. I'm going to die if I don't come."

Regina painted nonsensical designs on her stomach with her own arousal. "And people say I'm the melodramatic one, Miss Swan."

"Regina, please, please, please." Her mind was too frazzled to come up with anything besides the word please. She needed to come like she needed air. It had been way too long and she had been teased far too much for this orgasm denial shit.

"What if I just left you here, Miss Swan, wondering when I'm going to come back, wondering what I'm doing, who I'm talking to, how would you feel?" Regina's fingers started to coast lower again, tracing her lower lips.

"B-bad."

"Yes, I suppose you would, Miss Swan. Keep that in mind, won't you?"

Regina's fingers were back in her in the next instant, pumping even harder than before. Emma started to babble out nonsensical things as her orgasm started to build again. She was too far gone to keep it in. This time when her walls tightened around Regina's fingers Regina didn't pull out and within a couple thrusts Emma arched off the bed, screaming for all she was worth.

"Regina!"

Regina kept thrusting into her, her other hand trailing down to circle Emma's clit. Emma moaned loudly as another orgasm built and crashed over her and still Regina didn't stop. Emma's whole body was shaking, quaking, she felt like a live wire, feeling everything at once. It felt so damn good. A third orgasm ripped through her. Emma felt herself falling away, black at the edges of her vision taking over fully as she finally passed out as the height of her third orgasm took her.


End file.
